The Color Yellow
by Purple Shamrock 17
Summary: COMPLETE! A furturistic crossover fic with Jakob the Liar and Boy in the Striped Pajamas. After a plauge,'imperfect' people are placed in quarentine. What happens when Keith, an inmate meets Natalie, a naive outsider, after hearing of a possible cure?
1. A Silver Colored Sky

**Author's Note: I know what you're thinking….didn't I just update A Special Present? Yes, I did and I really don't like having posting a new fic in the same category as one I'm already working on but I actually got this idea in DC and I've only know started to work out the kinks and write it. I actually have the next two chapters written and I wanted to get it posted soon…and because I think acciodanrad9 was going virtually strangle me if I didn't post it soon. So, I hope you have to read and review both of my Keith fics!**

**As I said in the summary this is a crossover fic between the movies, **_**Jakob the Liar**_** and **_**The Boy in the Striped Pajamas**_**. If you have seen either of these movies, you will know that they are both Holocaust movies. Although this story features a 'futuristic Holocaust' the idea of which I actually got from the book **_**Gathering Blue, **_**I will use much information from the Holocaust in this story and so I WILL WARN YOU NOW if you do not like reading about the Holocaust, DO NOT read this story. While it won't be overly depressing or graphic there will be some mature scenes in it, so if you are uncomfortable, don't read it!**

**Okay, now that that's cleared up, please read the first chapter of the first Keith crossover fic and PLEASE review!**

The Color Yellow

Chapter 1

A Silver Colored Sky

That's how we survived…we relied on the little things: a dark joke, a sunny day, a hopeful rumor.

--from _Jakob The Liar_

_Year: 2143_

The sky was silver, when it all began.

Later, he would wonder what had caused him to remember such an insignificant detail and to describe so uniquely. The sky wasn't really silver; it was gray, dull gray and drab like the baggy clothes that turned him into nothing but meaningless gray blob.

But that had been his method throughout his entire life: see the bright side of everything, even when it was apparent there wasn't or shouldn't be a bright side.

So, on that gray day as he stood clinging to chain link fence and stared unseeing at the barren tree that was a mere six feet away from him, Keith Zetterstrom decided that the sky was silver.

And his lips twisted themselves into a smile. He held it for several minutes, as if to memorize how to do it. All Keith ever saw were thin lines of lips, as if the muscles had stopped working from disuse and that was the best they could manage. No one really smiled anymore.

Despite his efforts, Keith's smile quickly morphed into a frown as he remembered his mother's smile. She had a beautiful smile. Whenever he had a bad day at school, all she had to do was smile at him and ask how his day had gone. With these simple actions, the memory of the day would melt away and he would lie for fear of having that smile leave her lips and his now happy mood would leave him as well.

But his mother wasn't around to smile at him anymore and there was no school to come home from.

And there hadn't been in over a year.

He didn't really know why he came to this spot nearly every day and curled his fingers through the interlocking metal. There was nothing really that interesting to look at, save for the tree and the cracked pavement of the road beyond it. There were other trees alongside the fence, tall pines whose purpose was to hide the fence and those who lived inside it from the view of outsiders. The trees went on for how far Keith didn't know but the road had long been deserted, so it was the perfect place for him to come and think, no one would find him here.

Or so he thought.

"What are you thinking about now, Keith?" sighed a voice tiredly.

"Not escape plans, if that's what you're thinking," Keith replied without turning around. He knew exactly who it was anyway. It was Kurt, one of his roommates. " 'Cause, I mean, even I'll admit they would never work, but sometimes it's nice to give the Bulls a bone to pick." And he couldn't help but smirk at the thought.

"Well, that 'bone' nearly got you a first class ticket to the Lab and you don't want that, do you?" Kurt inquired. "And besides, you nearly gave Kevin a heart attack."

"Kevin nearly has a heart attack every other week," Keith answered nonchalantly. "The guy seriously needs to chill out sometimes. I can take care of myself."

"Not when you plan reckless schemes, you can't!"

"I wasn't actually gonna go _through_ with any of them! I'm not _that_ stupid!" Keith snapped as he pivoted around to face Kurt who like Keith, wore the same baggy gray clothes. Kurt was only two years older than Keith (who was seventeen) but was much taller and muscular than him so he appeared much older. He had a round hard face with short dark brown hair and hazel eyes that were staring at Keith so intensely that the younger boy had the strangest feeling that Kurt was reading his mind.

"Did you come and find me just 'cause Kevin told you too or do you have a better reason?" Keith asked finally.

"No, it was my own decision to come and find you."

"Okay…why?"

"Billy." Was the only reply and at the mention of the name, Keith's eyes widened and he launched into a sprint back toward the main compound.

He found Billy in what had once been a candy store, on the outskirts of the compound. Keith couldn't understand why Billy would come here of all places, as the store was in shambles. The shelves were empty save for a few dust bunnies and the glass case under the blank cash register was littered with faded wrappers and mouse droppings. The only things that were still in any working order the stools that ran along a counter that had once served ice cream.

On one of these stools was Billy.

He looked as if he had tried to squeeze every part of his body on the round seat, minimal as it was. His chin was on his knees and he looked to be in danger of falling off, but when Keith arrived, his face brightened and he immediately leapt off of the stool and ran to his friend, crying with delight. "Keith!"

"Billy, what are you doing? I thought you were in trouble!" said Keith as he crouched down to his young friend's level. Like Keith, Billy wore a brunt orange armband around his upper arm. The orange was the only sign of color in the dismal shop.

"I was…sort of," Billy admitted. "I—I had another dream again and I came here to think so none of my roommates would bother me."

"Those guys makin' fun of you again, huh?"

"Yeah and it's only 'cause I'm the youngest! Why can't I stay with you?"

" 'Cause it's against the rules, bud. You know if I made the rules, we sure as hell wouldn't be locked up in this place." _And my parents would still be alive_, Keith added to himself.

"Yeah, I know," Billy said with a sigh.

Keith offered him a friendly grin. "Hey, you know what? Even I get made fun of sometimes."

"Really?"

"Remember my various escape plans?"

"Oh, yeah!"

"Yeah, Kevin and Kurt didn't like me bragging about them, sayin' how they would save us all and they ignored me for awhile because of it."

"Do you think any of them would've worked?" Billy asked hopefully.

"No, not really," Keith admitted truthfully. Then, he stood up and took Billy be the hand. As they walked out of the old shop, Keith said, "The least I can do is walk you back to your apartment, how's that sound?"

"Okay!"

As they walked back through the compound to Billy's apartment, they passed many of their fellow inmates who were dressed like them in gray shirt and pants. Many of them had orange armbands like themselves, but there were a few who sported different colored ones such as red, tan and purple. When they had cleared the main area, Keith asked Billy, "So what was your dream about this time?"

"It was the same as the other ones," Billy replied, looking intently down at his worn shoes. "It was about the day they took my parents away."

Keith nodded silently but gave Billy's hand a reassuring squeeze.

"I'm afraid, I'm going to forget what they look like," Billy continued. "I mean, I have a picture but it's not a very good one."

"Don't worry," said Keith. "They're you're parents, you'll never forget them."

"You think so?"

"Uh-huh. People we love, tend to stick with us."

It was then that they arrived at Billy's apartment. It looked very much like the other apartment buildings in the compound; tall, gray and somber. There was not a soul in sight as two boys approached the front door, yet when they were not five feet from it, the door flew open and a girl appeared on the step. She wore an old black dress with a woven white shawl around her shoulders. Her long dark brown hair framed her pinched pale face, but despite her ragged appearance, she was actually very pretty. When she saw Keith and Billy standing in front of her, her face split into a large smile that brightened her face considerably as she exclaimed happily. "Billy! There you are! I was wondering if I was going to have to send Dad out to look for you."

"Keith's the only who can find me," Billy declared. "Especially after Brian and his gang are making fun of me."

The girl sighed heavily and rolled her eyes. "One of these days, I'm going to have to teach them a thing or two."

"I actually wouldn't mind seeing that," said Keith with a slight smirk. "I'm sure that if you're implying what I think you are, you'd make Markus reconsider his relationship with you, Rachel."

At the sound of her boyfriend's name, Rachel blushed deeply and Keith couldn't help but smirk as he added, "Would you like me to send him over tonight?"

"If you can make start talking again," said Rachel. "He's been so quiet the past few days, I'm starting to worry."

"He told me that he has a lot on his mind," said Keith.

"Anything specific?"

"Nope. Sorry."

"That's all right, I'm sure he'll come around eventually." Although she looked doubtful as she took Billy by the hand and said, "Well, thanks for bringing Billy back, Keith. I'll see you around."

"Yeah, see you guys later."

"Bye, Keith!" Billy called as he turned to go inside.

"See ya, buddy."

When the door had closed behind them, Keith turned and began heading back to his own home.

He returned to the fence later, at dusk. He knew he was taking a risk as it was getting close to curfew, but the siren had not gone off yet so he knew he still had some time.

He resumed his same position and stared out at the darkening sky, letting his mind wander. He tried not think of his parents or his life before he had come to live at Lodlin, the official name of the compound. Although they were nothing but happy memories he eventually become so sad as he reminisced that he nearly began to cry. And crying, he had been taught through his stay at Lodlin, showed weakness and vulnerability which in turn meant punishment. So Keith had taught himself to never cry or show his true feelings, not even when he was completely alone like now.

He was just thinking about going back to his apartment and facing Kevin's wrath for being out so close to curfew, when he heard something that he had not heard in nearly a year and as he listened, stock still the sound grew louder and louder. Then finally, he watched the source of it come into view along the road that he had thought was out of use.

It was a car.

**Author's Note: Well, there you have it. The first chapter to my new Keith fic! And, yes I know horrible cliffy! Again, I usually don't like to upload more than one story especially for the same category but I figure in case any of you get depressed reading this one, you can always switch over to **_**A Special Present**_**. Anyway, PLEASE review! I love to hear your thoughts on my work!**


	2. Unwelcome Changes

**Author's Note: Thank you to the all of two people who reviewed, I'm glad to see that you guys are interested in this story despite the sadness of it. **

**I've decided to write this story in alternating perspectives so this next chapter is written from Natalie's POV, I was going to write all of them in first person but figured that would be too confusing since I don't think I can do different fonts on this site. So from now on all the odd numbered chapters are from Keith's POV and the even numbered are from Natalie's, got that? Okay, now for some disclaimers.**

_**Jakob the Liar**_** belongs to Jurek Becker, Columbia Pictures and Blue Wolf Productions.**

_**The Boy in the Striped Pajamas**_** belongs to John Boyne and Miramax Films.**

_**Gathering Blue **_**belongs to Lois Lowry and **_**The Book Thief**_** belongs to Markus Zusak (for those have read this book, this reference won't appear until later).**

**Oh yeah, and this is probably the most important one: **_**Keith**_** belongs to Ron Carlson and No Hands Productions.**

**Now on with the chapter! Enjoy and please review!**

Chapter 2

Unwelcome Changes

_Two Days Earlier_

"Can you _believe_ school today?!" Natalie Anderson's best friend, Brooke exclaimed. "I mean, I think the teachers plan their classes so that they teach the most boring stuff at the end of the week. God, I thought today would _never end_!"

"I know," Natalie agreed as they walked down her street from their bus stop. "I just couldn't concentrate today for some reason. Good thing it's Wednesday."

"Yeah, but that means we have to suffer through tomorrow."

"Well, TGIAF, then."

"What's that mean?"

"Thank God it's _almost_ Friday!"

Brook laughed. "Ha! Good one!"

"Thanks."

The two seventeen-year-olds continued walking in silence after that and Natalie couldn't help but breathe a heavy sigh of contentment. What Brooke had said was so much more than true. Each school week seemed to drag on and on once Wednesday hit and although she enjoyed school, she always looked forward to the weekend like every other person between the ages of fifteen and eighteen.

"So, did Mr. Carlson seem particularly, I dunno monotone to you today?" Brooke asked suddenly.

"He's monotone every day, Brooke, that's just his voice."

"Yeah, I know but he seemed really dull today, maybe it was because he was talking about the Plague which _everyone's_ heard the history of since they were in diapers."

"No kidding," Natalie agreed.

"I mean, I know it's sad that a bunch of people died from a disease that had symptoms that no one had ever seen before but come on! It happened so long ago and no one ever gets that sick anymore. Why do we have to keep hearing about it?"

" 'Cause it's important to know how we got the lives we have now?" Natalie suggested.

"Yeah, I guess," said Brooke with a doubtful shrug. For as long as Natalie had known her, Brooke had always had a problem with history so she didn't let her complaining bother her too much.

When they reached Natalie's house, they said their goodbyes and Brook reminded her about asking her brother to drive them to the party on Saturday night. Natalie assured her she would and then went inside her house.

Once she was inside, she gratefully kicked off her shoes and flung her backpack onto a nearby armchair before heading up to her room.

And when she arrived; she was met with a very strange sight.

Her brother, Zach who was banned from her room at all times unless he knocked (which he more often than not didn't do) was pulling all of her carefully folded clothes out of their drawers and piling them onto her bed. Natalie stared at him in shock for a few moments before she came to her senses and promptly yelled at him. "What the hell are you doing in my room?!"

He didn't even jump at her outburst but replied calmly, "I got home a bit early so I'm helping Mom pack your stuff since I've packed most of mine already."

"Pack? What do you mean pack? Are we going somewhere?" Natalie asked as she walked further into her small room.

"Yeah, we're moving as a matter of fact."

Natalie's mouth literally fell open. "We're _moving_?!" she cried. "_Why_? Where to? For how long?"

"You'll know why when your father gets home," said a voice from behind her and Natalie whirled around to find her mother, Caroline standing in the doorway with an extra large suitcase beside her. "Besides, we're not leaving right away, Natalie," her mother assured her. "Although it is sooner than I would've liked but we don't really much choice in the matter thanks to _some people_." The emphasis on the last two words, implied as it usually did to Natalie's father. "Why don't you finish packing up your clothes and Zach, you can go help Cynthia, okay?" Caroline added as she heaved the large suitcase into Natalie's room and then she left and Zach followed. When they were gone, Natalie glared at the suitcase before she flung it onto her bed, crushing the neatly piled clothes and picked up her phone to call Brooke.

* * *

That evening after dinner, the family gathered in the living room to hear the reason behind why they were up and moving so unexpectedly.

"We are moving mainly because of my job," said Pete, Natalie's father without preamble. "As you know, I've recently received a very large promotion, one that requires certain sacrifices from us but one I can assure you will be much better for all us in the long run."

"It doesn't sound any better if it means we have to move," Natalie said stiffly. "I mean, really, Dad! Couldn't they have told you that you had to move _before_ you got the promotion?"

"I honestly didn't know that we would have to move when I got it, Natalie," her dad replied. "But my job is very important and I'd hate to have to go someplace because of it and not have all of you with me."

"What sort of job are you going to do now, Dad?" ten-year-old Cynthia asked curiously.

"A very important one," Peter replied with a smile, "one that is very important to the well being of every citizen. I'm surprised that I got such a promotion, since I'm sure there were far more qualified men than me."

"So, when are we leaving?" Natalie asked.

"Late afternoon on Saturday."

"_Two days_? Dad! That's hardly enough time! Besides, I have plans Saturday night and what about school?"

"It's plenty of time, Natalie," said Caroline tersely. "And as far as plans go, you'll just have to cancel them because we are a family and we're all moving together, no exceptions. And as for school, all of you will be going to school wherever our new home is."

"Which is in the countryside," Pete added. "So, it will be a new start for all of us and we can get out of the congested city and have a better quality of life."

_We aren't technically in a city and my 'quality of life' was just fine here, thank you very much,_ Natalie thought to herself.

Since they still had a lot of packing to do, the discussion ended soon after that but Natalie was still upset and would probably remain upset for the next two days. Thankfully when she got to her room, her phone rang and it was Brooke.

"So what's the verdict?" she asked instantly when Natalie picked it up.

"We're moving 'cause of my dad's promotion," she answered. "Apparently it's a really important job and we have to move to the country."

"Maybe he's in espionage," Brooke suggested, "and that's why he can't tell you specifically what his job is."

"You don't get it, do you? I'm moving in two days and I have no _flipping_ idea when I'm going to see you again!"

"I can always come visit you or you can visit me," Brooke said brightly "and if isn't too far away, you can come stay with me on weekends."

"Yeah, I guess so."

"Oh, c'mon, Nat, it's not like it's forever!"

Natalie didn't answer her and the seconds ticked by.

Finally Brooke's spoke and she sounded worried, "Natalie, you haven't said anything and you're scaring me. How long are you going to be away?"

"I—I don't know," said Natalie in a very small voice, knowing what was going to happen and sure enough, it did.

"WHAT?!" Brook shouted at the other end. "What do you mean you don't if you're coming back or not? What about the rest of the school year? What about all of our plans? _What about the party on Saturday_?!"

"You're just gonna have to go with Trish and Robbie," Natalie told her, " 'cause we're leaving Saturday afternoon." And before her friend could launch into another tirade, she said, "Look, I have a lot packing to do still so I'll talk to you tomorrow, I promise. Okay?"

"Okay, fine," Brook grumbled. And she hung before Natalie could say goodbye properly.

* * *

The only problem with Natalie's promise was that Brooke ignored her the entire day and didn't speak to her until they were walking home again that afternoon.

"I'm sorry I ignored for pretty much the whole day," said Brooke breaking the tense silence. "I guess I got into my head that you were only leaving for a little while but I guess since your dad's job is pretty important, that you would leave for longer."

"Yeah, I know but like you said, I'm sure I can come and visit," said Natalie, "and we can always write and call each other."

"Yeah, that's true," Brooke agreed and she seemed generally happy about it. "So, have you finished packing yet?"

"God, no! You have no idea how much stuff I have!"

"Want me to come over and help?"

"Would you?"

"Of course, besides its more time to spend with you before you have to leave."

Natalie smiled, happy at her friend's offer. "Okay! Come on over then!"

That afternoon was one of the best of Natalie's life and by the end of it she decided that anything chore could be fun as long as you had someone fun to do it with. But sooner than she would've liked, it was Saturday and she was giving Brooke one final hug goodbye. With another promise to call as soon as she could, Natalie got into the backseat of their car next to Cynthia and drove away.

* * *

"Dad, are we there yet?" Cynthia whined for the umpteenth time. "It's almost dark out!" It was true. They had literally been driving for the entire day and Natalie had absolutely no idea where they were.

"We just have go down this road a bit, honey and then we'll be there," Pete assured her from the driver's seat.

Beyond the age where it was unacceptable to openly complain like her sister, Natalie sighed heavily and looked out the window. It was still light enough to see that the road they were traveling on was lined with trees. But as they continued, something caught Natalie's eye and as they drove past, she stared into the trees but they all looked the same.

Something had glimmered beyond the trees but they had driven past it before she had had a chance to really see what it was and by the time they had arrived at their new home, she had forgotten all about it.

**Author's Note: So, now the mystery of who is in the car has been solved! Sorry for the cliffy and please review!**


	3. The Radio

**Author's Note: Thanks again to everyone who reviewed. Here is chapter 3 which just to remind you, is now from Keith's POV. In this chapter, you'll get to find out what happens with him seeing, what we now know is Natalie's family's car, so enjoy and please review!**

Chapter 3

The Radio

Keith kept his eyes locked on the car as he ran, only looking away occasionally to make sure that he wasn't going run into anything or anyone. He knew he was taking a great risk in being out after curfew, especially since he was so close to the fence. From any guard tower it would like he was trying to escape. But Keith didn't care. The strange new car ignited something inside him and he wanted more than anything to find out where it was going.

Which was exactly why he was now running after it.

A few times he had to cut through darkened streets in order to keep up with it and when he saw that it was nearing Headquarters, he slowed to a jog. He knew now what the car meant; a new officer was arriving which was bad news for everyone in the compound.

He had just reached the chain link fence that separated the compound from Headquarters when a harsh voice shouted, "HALT!"

Keith jumped in surprise and whirled around only to be blinded by the stark white light of a searchlight. Quickly, Keith tore off his newsboy cap and raised his arms innocently.

"What are you doing out after curfew?!" shouted the voice from high above him in the guard tower. "Don't you know it's punishable by death for an Imperfect like yourself to be out so late?!"

"Yes!" Keith called back, "but I wasn't out after curfew! The siren hasn't gone off yet!"

"Oh, clever, aren't you?" sneered the guard. "What's your name, rat?"

"Keith Zetterstrom!" He didn't know why this was necessary since the guards never called anyone by their real names anyway. It was always 'rat', 'wretch', or in Keith's case since he was one, 'boy'.

"Good!" continued the guard. "Go into Headquarters and tell the officer on duty that you were out after eight o'clock!"

"But, it's not eight o'clock yet!" Keith shouted.

"Are you arguing with me?" was the threat in reply.

"No!" Keith answered wisely.

"Good, now get going!"

* * *

Keith had never been inside Headquarters before and this was a good thing because anyone from the compound who went inside the imposing white structure, never came out again. When he stepped inside, he couldn't help but gawk at the sheer gaudiness of the foyer. It had a high ceiling and desks ran around the wall in front of him while uniformed soldiers scurried to and fro on a polished mahogany floor. Perhaps the guard outside had thought the place would be empty but it obviously wasn't and as such, Keith had absolutely no idea where to go.

Wanting to look like he had a purpose for being there when he was unaccompanied by a guard, Keith turned right, climbed a small flight of stairs and headed down a narrow white hallway lined with closed doors on either side. The guard had told him to go and report to 'the officer on duty' but apparently there were a lot of officers on duty and most of them were busy talking to other soldiers. Finally, Keith walked into an office that was open…and empty.

Unlike many of the other offices that he had passed, this one was richly furnished despite the smallness of it. Keith gulped nervously (something he never tried to do) as he realized that this office probably belonged to some high ranking officer and not just a standard night one. He considered just leaving and walking out but he would need a pass if the siren had already gone off, so Keith decided that it was better to stay and explain the situation to whosever office this was.

While he waited, Keith glanced around the room, noting that there really wasn't anything of interest until he saw that sitting in a corner behind the desk was…

_A radio._

_And it was on._

The same excitement that he had felt when he had seen the car, filled him again at the sight of seeing something that was connected to the outside world. Without even thinking of the consequences if he was to be caught, Keith stepped over to it and turned up the volume.

"And now for World News," the newscaster was saying. "We bring you a special report tonight from Europe where archeologists have discovered several documents hidden deep underground both London and Paris. These documents which could fill many volumes, our sources say, have been carefully preserved and contain many treatments and in some cases, cures for diseases that have long been considered medical mysteries. Not only do they give treatments for such diseases but also names such as diabetes, bipolar disorder, tuberculosis and cancer."

Cancer! Keith's mind seized onto the word as he turned down the volume again as the newscaster had moved onto another story. He had cancer and he'd had it since he was fourteen and now this radio was telling him that he could be possibly cured of it? And not just him but many of his friends and all the others who lived in Lodlin?

He backed away from the radio so that he was standing in front of the desk as the biggest smile spread across his face. This, by far was the best possible (and subsequently only) news that he could have ever received.

Keith's mind whirled with the hope and possibilities that this newscast had brought him: after doctors had studied those documents, and made up the treatments, they would come out to all the quarantine compounds and cure everyone there. And if they couldn't be cured they would at least take them someplace where they could be treated and that would mean…

"What are you doing in my office, boy?!" a male voice demanded, causing Keith to jump in surprise and alarm. He pivoted around to see a large man in a long gray traveling coat. It was only by the leather cap on his head that told Keith that he was an officer. Beside, the man was a woman also wearing a long coat with dark brown hair that fell to her shoulders and Keith assumed that she was the man's wife. She paid Keith no mind as she looked about the small office with great interest.

Finally, remembering that the officer had asked him a question, Keith said, "The sentry sent me in here to tell you that I was out after curfew, but if I may correct him, it's not eight o'clock yet."

The officer had apparently not been too interested in why Keith was there as he was now sitting behind his desk, perusing through a manila folder that had been lying on his desk. But at Keith's words, he looked up and glanced at the wall clock. "You're right, boy," he said, much more kindly than he had before. "It's not eight o'clock yet, it's only five minutes to eight."

Yet as he spoke, the minute hand moved and the officer added somewhat mockingly, "Now, four minutes to eight." He stared at Keith for a moment before he asked, "How far away do you live?"

"Ten minutes, if I sprint."

He smiled but not at all kindly. "Then, you'd better hurry."

* * *

Keith was amazed that he didn't run into anyone as he flew back down to the foyer. When he was outside, he turned one of the soldiers and asked, "May I have a pass?"

But the solider was already closing the door and ignored him so Keith was forced to scamper back to the fence that separated HQ from the compound. He remembered the entrance easily enough but now the only problem was avoiding the searchlight.

_This is insane,_ he thought as he stared at it. _I'm probably the only inmate for miles around who's stupid enough to try and sneak back _into_ the compound._

Figuring that since the searchlight was skimming over another area far away from him, Keith prepared himself to leap out and run when a hand grabbed his arm and a voice hissed. "Wait!"

"Jesus!" Keith swore and jumped around to see who had stopped him.

Even in the dim light he could tell exactly who it was.

"_Billy_!" Keith scolded in a loud whisper. "What the _hell_ are you doing here?"

"I got bored in the apartment so I decided to go find you and Andy or Markus but then I remembered that you always go and sit by the fence. So I went there and that's where I saw you run toward Headquarters and I, well I followed you," the boy finally admitted.

At his words, Keith grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him while he hissed, "Billy, you idiot! You could've been _shot_!"

"I know but when I saw you get caught by that guard I hid, I swear!" Billy cried. "Please, don't be mad at me, Keith! I promise I won't do it again!" Since he was near tears at this point, Keith let his hands fall away from him. "Okay, bud," he sighed, "I know you were just curious but you promise that you won't follow me again, right?"

"I promise!" Billy declared and crossed his heart for emphasis.

"All right then," said Keith, knowing that the boy looked up to him like an older brother so he knew that he would try his hardest to please him. "Now, since you told me to wait, why don't you tell me when it's safe to run?"

Billy nodded, his childish features forming into a mask of concentration as his eyes tracked the searchlight's progression. When the light had whizzed past them so that the area in front of them was nothing but darkness, Billy called out softly. "Now!" And the two boys bolted from their hiding place and out into the open area, Keith waited for the guard to call out again but he did not and miraculously they made it safely back into the compound.

* * *

Once he had returned Billy into the arms of the anxious Rachel yet again, he trudged slowly back to his own apartment to think about what he had heard on the radio. Could he really be cured of his cancer? Would they all someday soon be free and not caged up like the "infected rats" that they supposedly were? Keith knew the story of the infamous Plague just as everyone else did, but he also knew the truth behind it.

Since he and everyone else that he cared for, _was_ the truth.

And the truth had been hidden away to starve and fester in their various diseases and if not to die a quick and easy death from being shot at or committing suicide then to die a slow and painful death of starvation or better yet the very disease that had put them in a compound.

And now, Keith realized as he neared his building, he alone had the information that could display the awful truth to the entire world.

The only problem that was in his way was if he was willing to tell it.

Keith was still thinking about the radio as he climbed the creaking stairs to the apartment where he, Kevin and Kurt lived. It really didn't make sense that they all live in the same apartment as the building itself was completely empty. Over the course the past year, the tenants had either been moved to another building or sent to the Lab. There was no rhyme or reason behind the choosing of who should stay or go as far as Keith could see but for whatever reason, he and the two other boys had been allowed to stay. And that had suited all three of them just fine until Kevin had decided that since he was the oldest, he would be in charge and although he didn't necessarily boss the other to around, he certainly kept a close watch on them and in Keith's case, it was an_ annoyingly_ close watch.

And Keith knew that because of the lateness of the hour, he was going to have to face Kevin's wrath once again.

And he was right.

He had just closed the door behind him and locked it when someone asked in a low voice. "So…where have you been all night?"

As he had done several times that night already, Keith jumped in surprise and spun around to find (as he should have expected) Kevin sitting in the room that served as their kitchen with his feet propped up on the table and his hands behind his head. He stared expectantly at Keith who replied brightly. "Actually, I haven't been out all night, it's probably only, what? Quarter to nine at the latest?"

"It's a quarter after actually," Kevin informed him. "And answer the question, Keith, I'm not too happy with you right now."

"Really? I hadn't noticed," said Keith sarcastically. "I was under the impression that you were ecstatic to see me."

"Your sarcasm really isn't helping, Keith," said Kevin coolly, "would you mind telling me what _the hell_ you were doing out after curfew?!"

"I was out by the fence, you know where I usually go," Keith answered as he sat down across from him. "And I was just about to start headin' back here when I saw…a car."

Kevin raised an eyebrow in surprise. "A car?" he repeated and he didn't even try to hide how interested he was at the news, Keith noticed.

"Yeah," Keith answered. "A car, so I followed it and I saw that it was heading toward HQ and—"

"You got caught," Kevin interrupted promptly.

"Yeah…do wanna hear the rest of the story or do you just wanna tell me what you think happened?"

"Yeah, I think I have a pretty good idea what happened," said Kevin curtly. "You got caught and the guard told you to go inside HQ and tell an officer that you were out after curfew and by some miracle, you are now here standing in front of me and not lying on the floor of some office, dead. Is that it?"

"Pretty much, yeah," Keith replied nonchalantly. He didn't bother to mention what he had heard on the radio, figuring that Kevin wouldn't believe him anyway.

Nevertheless, Kevin sighed heavily. "God, Keith, when are you going to learn that you can't act so rashly all the time, 'cause one of these days it may cost you your life."

"I must've missed the memo where it's your job to look out for me," said Keith tersely. "How many times have I told _you_, Kevin? I'm not stupid! I_ know_ how far I can push the envelope, okay? So, just stop worrying about me! You have enough to worry about without me." Wanting the discussion to be over, Keith promptly stood up, bade Kevin goodnight and headed off to his room.

* * *

Later that night, Keith was lying on his springy cot, thinking about what he had heard on the radio and what it could mean for not only for him, but everyone who suffered within the confines of Lodlin. They did not only suffer from the poor living conditions and constant hunger but also through their own diseases that had brought them there. He wasn't even sure if he believed it himself. The discovery of the documents didn't necessarily mean that they all would be free, it would take time and the cures or treatments would no doubt have to be developed in secret.

Still, as he rolled over in an attempt to get more comfortable (even though he knew it was a lost cause), it felt wonderful to dream…and hope.

**Author's Note: Ah, the plot thickens! Unfortunately you won't get to find out what Keith does (or doesn't do) with this new information until the chapter after next! Ha!**

**In case anyone cares to know. I created the compound's name, Lodlin from two Polish ghettos that were used during the Holocaust: Lodz and Lublin. Lodz is one of more famous ghettos that was used. Just a bit of history for you there! Please review!**


	4. The New House

**Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I'm glad you guys find this story so intriguing despite the sadness of it. And don't worry I have lots of descriptions of Keith's living conditions in the next chapter, but here is the second chapter from Natalie's POV. Enjoy and please review!**

Chapter 4

The New House

_There was something about the new house that made Bruno think that no one ever laughed there; that there was nothing to laugh at and nothing to be happy about._

--_John Boyne_, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas

* * *

The moment that Natalie's dad had parked the car in front of their new house and all five of them had gotten out and stretched, he said, "Your mom and I are going to go take a look at my new workplace and while we're gone, you guys can unload your suitcases and pick out your rooms, okay?"

And before any of them could protest, the two adults turned and walked away. So Natalie, Cynthia and Zach hauled their suitcases out of the car and dragged them up to the house.

Since it was now completely dark, the only things that Natalie could discern of it was that it was large, square and strongly built. In fact the steps that they climbed up were made of stone. But when they got inside they found waiting for them, a woman in her late twenties and a man in his thirties dressed in servants' uniforms.

"Good evening," said the woman courteously. "My name is Maria and I am the housekeeper here. Welcome to Lodlin."

"Lodlin?" Natalie repeated, confused. "That's where we are? Is that a town exactly?"

"It is but it is very small, miss," Maria answered.

"You don't have to call me 'miss'," said Natalie, "Natalie's fine."

"Thank you, miss, but I shall have to ask the Commander if that is allowed," said Maria. Then, she looked at the man beside her and it appeared that the subject was closed as she continued, "And this is Luke, the butler. Now I will show you to the three rooms that you can pick from." And with a gesture for them to follow her, she led the way further into the house and up a steep flight of stairs.

The three rooms that Maria showed them, all looked pretty much the same at least from what Natalie saw. They were all completely empty with the walls painted a boring white and they all looked to be about the same size. Natalie was happy to see that all three mattresses looked brand new since from the outside, the house had looked older than their old house.

She ended up choosing the one room that was in the center of the hall while Cynthia was two doors down from her and Zach at the very end on the other side of the hall. Too tired to complain that she was so close to her little sister, Natalie shut her door, made her bed with the sheets her mom had stuffed inside at the last moment and got into bed.

* * *

The next morning, after a good night's sleep, Natalie was in a better mood to help unpack…which was nearly what she spent the entire day doing. After breakfast, her, Zach, Cynthia and Caroline, along with Luke and Maria carried all of the boxes holding their various possessions up to their rooms. Natalie tried to ask Cynthia to move to a different room but she wouldn't budge after she said that she had already planned out where she was going to put everything and if she moved to another room, she would just have to do it all over again. Natalie rolled her eyes at her sister's excuse and figured there was no point in arguing further.

She spent the rest of the morning and into the afternoon, arranging her room and when she had finally finished, she stepped back to admire her work and couldn't help but smile at how much better it looked.

"Your room looks exactly how your old room looks!" laughed a voice behind her and Natalie looked behind her to find her mother. She was holding two large suitcases, like she had when Natalie had arrived home from school two days earlier.

"I know," said Natalie. "That's exactly how I wanted it to look!"

Caroline smiled and then said, "Would you and Zach mind taking these down to the basement? As well as some of the boxes in the living room?"

"Yeah, sure," Natalie sighed as she grabbed one of them. "Where's Dad, by the way?" she asked her mother as the two of them began walking downstairs.

"Oh, he's already at his new job, he got up early this morning. He showed me his office last night and it looks very nice, but of course having a nice office means that there is a lot more work to do," her mom replied.

Natalie only nodded in response. What was so important about her dad's job that he couldn't even help his family unpack? Not that she had anything else better to do but it was getting a bit boring and tiresome.

* * *

"God, it smells like something died down here," Zach complained as he and Natalie hauled the suitcases down the dusty wooden steps. "Maybe we shouldn't put anything down here 'cause it'll be a coffin by the time we want to use it again."

Natalie had to agree that the basement did smell but she hoped it was from the decades of mold and mildew that must have accumulated there and not from a graveyard of rodents.

Once they reached the bottom, Zach pulled a cord and a single naked light bulb sprang to life and illuminated the area around them. From what Natalie could see, the walls were not caked in mold as she had thought they would be, but they were cracked and showed some water damage. They rolled the suitcases under the stairs and then set off to explore. Thankfully, there were more lights than just the one and once they had found all three of them, the room glowed with bright yellow light and looked considerably more cheerful than before. Despite the fact that it was completely bare save for some empty metal shelves that ran along the right wall.

"Wow, this room is huge," said Zach as he looked around. "If we clean this up, it would totally make a sweet game room."

"I hope that by 'we', you mean just you," said Natalie, " 'cause I'm not gonna spend all my time scrubbing walls."

"Aw, c'mon, what else do you have to do?" Zach said with a smirk. "Give yourself a pedicure?"

"Shut up! You know I hate those things!"

"Yeah, I know, so does that mean you'll help me?"

"Hell, no! Besides, there's another room to explore." And she pointed to the far right corner where she had spotted the outline of a door but it blended so well with the color and texture of the wall surrounding it that she had had to concentrate on it for a few moments to make sure that it really was a door.

"Huh, that's weird," Zach said as they walked over to it. The metal shelving was situated so close to it that only a person about Natalie or Zach's size could fit into it which was exactly what Zach did. Once he was squeezed into the little nook, he moved to take hold of the doorknob only to find that there wasn't one.

"Well, how the hell are you supposed to open it?" Zach asked. "There's no doorknob!"

"Push on it?" Natalie suggested.

Zach did as she said and much to both of their surprise, it opened inward and it creaked loudly as he opened as if surprised at being put to use after so many years. When it was open at least partway, Zach looked at his sister, an excited glint in his eye and said, "What if it's a vault or something?! How awesome would that be?"

"Only way to find out," said Natalie with a wry grin.

Zach smiled too and then creaked open the door a little more enough for him to step inside. Natalie waited outside, wondering what could possibly be inside such a room that couldn't really be seen at first glance.

Finally, when she felt enough time had passed, she called out. "Well? Anything interesting?"

Zach's head appeared not a minute later and he looked sorely disappointed. "Nothin' in it all. It's empty."

"I wonder why it was hidden like that then," said Natalie as Zach stepped out of the room and pulled the door shut behind him. At Natalie's question, he shrugged and said, "I dunno, it must've had some purpose at some point but it obviously hasn't been used in awhile. Probably 'cause no one comes down here."

"Yeah, that's true. Do you think we should tell Mom and Dad about it?"

"Nah, there's no point and besides, we found so it should be our secret however much a pointless secret it is," said Zach.

Surprising even herself, Natalie liked the idea a lot. "Okay, sounds like a plan. Now let's go back upstairs before Mom starts to wonder where we are."

Zach shrugged. "Yeah, might as well."

Once they had turned off all of the lights, they headed back upstairs to their separate rooms.

* * *

While the discovery of the hidden room in the basement had been exciting enough, Natalie soon found that the rest of the house was not. It lacked any sort of character and at times she felt like she was living in a shoebox: all boring four walls and no color. Another thing that bothered her about was that everyone seemed so serious and tense. She didn't notice any of this behavior in her own family but mainly in the servants or in the uniformed men whom upon arrival, headed immediately to her father's office and disappeared inside.

The shocking thing about this observation was that she noticed it all in just the first day of living in the new house!

Although the feeling was rather disturbing, Natalie didn't let it bother her as she tried to adjust to her new and different surroundings. After all of the unpacking was done, she sat in her room reading and wondering if there was a possibility of getting a phone hookup when Cynthia marched into her room and declared, "This house is so _boring_! I think we should go home tomorrow! I've had enough of it."

"You just need to give it some time and you'll like eventually," said Natalie without looking up.

"Don't tell me you actually _like_ it here?!"

"Of course I don't like it here," said Natalie, "but I don't think there's anything we can do about it."

"Yes, we can!" Cynthia snapped suddenly. "We can go back home!"

"No, we can't," Natalie told her firmly, annoyed that her sister was interrupting her just to complain. "Dad's job is important and we have to be here with him."

"Well, then, Dad's job is stupid," her sister declared, "any job that makes a family live their perfectly nice home to come and live at a sad one with weird neighbors is just plain stupid!"

Natalie looked up at her words. "What weird neighbors?" She couldn't remember seeing any other houses around theirs when they had arrived.

But Cynthia wasn't listening as she dragged Natalie's desk chair over to her window and got up on it. The window was a unique one in the sense that it was higher up than a normal window but it was also very wide and rectangular. Natalie watched her sister look out her window for a few minutes and was about to ask what she meant by 'weird neighbors' when Cynthia exclaimed. "I can see them from your window too! Come and look, Nat!" And she beckoned her over excitedly.

Natalie sighed as she closed her book, got up and then walked over to stand next to Cynthia and looked out the window.

And then she saw exactly what her sister had been talking about.

**Author's Note: Ohhh, cliffy! Haha, I do love those things, don't I? They're just too irresistible to use, I guess. Hope that wasn't too short and please review!**


	5. Seed of Hope

**Author's Note: Thanks for all the reviews, I'm glad everyone got a clear picture of how depressing Natalie's house is since I wasn't sure if I described it well enough…but apparently I did! **

**Here is the next chapter which will probably be the last chapter for awhile since I'm getting ready to go back to school and will be busy the rest of this week and next with school actually starting. But I'm sure I will have time to upload the next chapter in the timely fashion. So enjoy this nice long chapter and please review!**

_**Warning: This chapter contains attempted suicide and violence.**_

Chapter 5

Seed of Hope

The next morning, after he was roused out of bed by a chorus of shrill whistles, Keith went to find his friend, Andy.

Andy was the same age as Kevin and lived in the center of the compound in what had once been a bar. The only things that remained of the original bar were well, the physical bar and a severely battered pool table.

As Keith sauntered down the street that would take him to Andy's, he couldn't help but feel that warm and fuzzy feeling inside of him as he thought once again, of what he had heard on the radio. He knew he was probably getting his hopes up too high as he knew a cure (or at least a treatment) wouldn't come in the next few days but the desire to tell someone of his great news was becoming more and more insistent in the back of his mind, despite the short amount of time that had elapsed.

But Keith knew that his news, while it was good, was also potentially dangerous as well. _Very_ dangerous in fact.

He was jarred out of his thoughts by a sight of a small crowd up ahead and naturally curious to see what was going on, he jogged the short distance until he reached the outer edges of the group.

When he arrived however, he instantly wished that he had not been so curious. Two men were carrying a long object wrapped in a dirty blanket between them and Keith knew that it could only be one thing: a body.

As the two men loaded it onto a cart, he heard one of the onlookers say, "That was Derek, he was sick in the head, remember?"

"Yes," replied someone else. "He heard voices; do you think the voices made him to do it?"

"Probably," the first man said. "It was suicide, right, Al?"

At the sound of the name, Keith looked to the right and saw his psychiatrist friend, Al standing a little farther away from the group. At the man's question, Al nodded solemnly. "Yes, one of his roommates found him hanging by the neck this morning."

"What are you rats standing around for?!" shouted the angry voice of a soldier suddenly. The people in front of Keith shifted away instantly as the large man stomped into view. Keith quickly backed away like the others and watched as the soldier's eyes flickered over the ragged bunch. "Well?" he barked after a moment. "Get a move on! There's nothing to see here! _Move_!"

Not wanting to be told twice, most of the men hurried away after that, Keith spotted Al moving further down the street and ran to catch up with him.

"Morning, Al!" he said brightly he reached him. "How are you this fine day?"

Al forced a small smile on his lips. "I'm doing just fine, Keith, all things considered. You?"

"Just chipper," Keith replied cheerfully. "The sound of my stomach grumbling is always something that I look forward to waking up to."

He was glad to see that Al's smile widen at his answer. "Yes, I wonder what's on the menu today."

"I'd say fillet Minot," said Keith sarcastically, "or maybe a nice juicy hamburger, but I'm not picky."

Al merely chuckled in reply as they continued on their way to Andy's.

* * *

The Lodlin Quarantine Compound was the compound's official name and it mainly consisted of one long main street that had held the main businesses of the small town that it had been. Most of the original residents had either moved away once they were informed that the government had selected their town to be transformed into a quarantine compound or they had stayed because they suffered from one of the many feared diseases that would guarantee them a spot there.

All of the other streets branched out from Main Street, but eventually zigzagged their way all around the compound. So if one wasn't careful they could easily become very lost in one of the many side streets and back alleys. Headquarters was located at the very front while the majority of the apartment complexes were squished together along the outskirts. Even farther away though were the factories where everyone was required to form some type of labor, despite their illness.

And beside the factories, ran the train tracks where large black trains arrived every so often with new arrivals to fill up the compound or to take those who lived there away to the Lab, wherever that oh so secretive and mysterious place was.

* * *

When Keith and Al arrived at Andy's, they found that it was closed. Undeterred, Keith banged on the door. "Andy!" he called out. "Open up! It's Keith and Al, we wanna play some pool!"

No answer.

Keith knocked loudly again but there was still no answer.

"Maybe he's at work?" Al suggested.

"We work in the same factory, Al and besides, it's not time to leave yet," Keith told him. Figuring that any more knocking was useless as Andy would've heard him by now, he tried the door, found that it was unlocked and opened it wide enough for him and Al to enter.

And once they stepped over the threshold, they were met with a shocking sight.

Andy was standing on the bar with a rope looped loosely around his neck while the other end was tied to a beam above him. He was staring at the floor as if willing himself to jump but at Keith and Al's entrance, he looked up sharply, his blue eyes wide with fright and surprise and yet despite that he managed to shout at them. "I'm closed!"

"Get down from the bar, Andy," said Keith smoothly. "If you wanted to kill yourself you would've done it already."

"I've wanted to kill myself for a long time, Keith," Andy informed him. "It's only up until now that I've had the guts to go through with it."

"And obviously you don't have the guts at all because people who want to kill themselves usually do it right away," said Keith as he hoisted himself up onto the bar.

"And what do _you_ know about people wanting to kill themselves, Keith?" Andy retorted.

"Nothing, it's just an observation," Keith replied nonchalantly. He was now standing next to his friend and continued in the same light tone.

"Listen, I got a story for you and it's a pretty good one too."

"What?" Andy grumbled.

"Last night, I was in HQ—"

"Are you an Informer?" Andy interrupted instantly.

"What?"

"No one from the compound gets out of HQ alive unless he's an Informer."

"I know that but obviously I did 'cause I'm talkin' to you right so you gotta be feelin' pretty good about yourself for bein' friends with probably the only inmate who got out of HQ alive."

"Wow, some story," said Andy sarcastically. "Now leave me alone, I'm desperate, not stupid. Besides, it's only a matter of time before I can't walk anymore."

At his words, Keith couldn't help but glance briefly at his friend's salmon colored armband which meant that he had a disease of the muscles and in Andy's case, he had muscular dystrophy.

"Well, I know that, everyone's desperate at some point, but listen to me Andy." Here Keith moved as close to him as he could get and continued more seriously. "If you go through with killing yourself, people will know that you haven't held up your end of the bargain and how do you think that would affect me and what would people think of me if they knew that my friend couldn't go through with such a great bargain as ours?"

"What bargain?" Andy snapped, clearly irritated.

"I'm entitled to play pool in here whenever I want with whomever I want and in exchange you are allowed a ride in my truck whenever you want to wherever you want," Keith reminded him.

"You don't have a truck and you haven't driven a car in nearly a year!"

"Now, what am I supposed to about that, huh? The Bulls won't let any cars in."

"And if they do, they're only going to be torn apart anyway," said Al from where he stood near the door, watching.

"Exactly," Keith agreed, "but it doesn't matter," he added to Andy firmly, "a deal's a deal, bud."

Andy merely scowled in reply but much to Keith's relief, slipped his head out of the noose and got down off of the bar.

"Atta boy, Andy, atta boy!" said Keith, punching him playfully on the shoulder as they walked over to the pool table.

"If we ever get outta here, you owe me big time, Zetterstrom," said Andy in all seriousness.

Keith smirked. "I know, I'm fully aware of that, don't you worry!"

They couldn't exactly play any actual pool game mainly because nearly of the felt had been worn away and they were missing five balls. So they had created a new game where whoever managed to get the most balls into as many different pockets as they could won. It was simple but effective in the sense that it helped to pass the time.

While he waited for his turn, Keith swept his gaze over the bar even though he had seen it a million times before. It looked very much like the candy shop that he had found Billy in: dirty, dusty and in immense despair, descriptions that pretty much summed up the rest of the buildings in the compound. Keith couldn't imagine how Andy survived the winter as many of the main buildings didn't have heat while the apartments had very little.

Most of the apartments in the compound were pretty much the same size, it only depended on how many people lived in each one that really made a difference as well as what appliances were still in working order. Luckily, in the case of Kevin, Kurt and himself, their oven and sink still worked reasonably well.

However, they still had their share of hardships. For starters there weren't enough blankets for the three of them and in the winter, the apartment was extremely drafty so they usually ended up sleeping in a huddle near the wood burning stove to keep warm. There was also the fact that they had a family of mice living in the walls and what little furniture they had was falling apart.

"Keith, it's your---" Al started to say, jolting Keith out of his reverie of his home. Yet he didn't get any further because he was cut off by a chorus of shrill whistle blasts, much like the ones that had woken them up that morning…and every other morning as well. Immediately the three of them dropped their cue sticks and hurried out into the street and toward one end of it where a number of open bed trucks and soldiers stood waiting.

It was time for work.

* * *

Keith was squished so tightly between Andy and Al that he barely felt the jolting of the truck as they drove down the road toward the factories. Keith and Andy worked in a factory that recycled old car parts while Al was forced to unload heavy bags of grain that came in on the trains that weren't carrying new inmates.

The two boys said goodbye to Al when they arrived at their factory and scrambled off of the truck where they were organized into neat rows in front of the large gray building for roll call and to receive their assignment for the day.

While he waited toward the back of the group, Keith happened to see the officer that he had seen the previous night. He was watching as two other officers moved between the rows, checking that people were where they were supposed to be and sending them on their way into the factory.

In what seemed like only a few minutes' time, and the officer that Keith had met and the work one had arrived at Keith's row.

"Now these rats suffer from cancer, Commander," the work officer was saying. "Identified by the orange armbands which, in order to avoid confusion, represents all forms of the disease."

"I see," was the simple reply.

As the two men moved along the row, Keith couldn't help wondering what he would say if the officer—whom he now understood was the new head of the compound—recognized him, he supposed he would just have to be honest with him and hope that nothing bad happened to him.

When they arrived, the work officer barked, "You! Tearing! Go!"

As Keith moved to leap off toward the factory, the Commander said almost teasingly. "I see you made it back before eight o'clock, boy."

"I—" Keith faltered, momentarily surprised. "Yes, I did, sir."

"Mighty quick rat, aren't you?"

"I had to be, sir if I wanted to get back in time."

"Obviously," said the Commander in a suddenly cool voice. He seemed bored with Keith now and as such, waved him off toward the factory and Keith promptly went.

* * *

The job that Keith had been assigned---tearing—basically meant that he was supposed to strip old cars of their outer parts as opposed to the engine. Once he had a sizable pile he was supposed to carry them over to a large pile at the back of the factory.

As Keith was trying to break off the fender of one car (his only tools were a hammer and screwdriver), he heard a voice as ask from somewhere above him. "So, how's it going, Zetterstrom?"

Keith glanced up and a small smile crossed as he saw that it was his friend, Markus who was leaning four extremely worn tires against his legs. Markus was a year younger than him and could be rather annoying at times but he was also extremely loyal to Keith after he heard about some of Keith's escape plans and even though he had no plans to go through with them, Markus had helped devise some of them.

As for his appearance, he had a long face and large inquisitive (and oftentimes mischievous) blue eyes. His dark brown hair was always hidden by a black baseball cap that he wore at a jaunty angle. He said that this made him feel different from everyone else in the compound…Keith said that it made him look ridiculous.

"Pretty good, Mark. You?" Keith replied.

"Oh, I'm…I'm doing all right," said Markus slowly, he glanced at the guards who were busy talking amongst themselves but he nevertheless whispered to Keith. "Come and help me carry these tires, I gotta tell you something."

"Okay," said Keith, anything to get him away from the annoying fender.

He picked up two of the tires and as they began walking toward the dumping pile, Markus continued, "I know I haven't been around lately and I'm sure Rachel is worried about me but the truth is, I've just been planning something and it has to be at the right moment."

Keith glanced at him. "It's not an escape plan, is it?"

"No, no, nothing like that, it's really simple actually, I just have toughen up to go through with it."

"Go through with _what_, exactly?"

"I'm—I'm planning on proposing to her."

"Proposing?" Keith repeated. "What? Like, _marriage_?"

"Uh-huh."

"Wow, that's awesome!"

"_Awesome_!" Markus squealed, something that he rarely did since he usually tried to appear tough and manly at all times…which was a bit hard to do, considering that he was as skinny as a rail. "What's awesome about it? Do you _know_ how overprotective her parents are? Her dad's probably gonna send me straight to the Lab!"

"Aw, you're just worrying too much," said Keith. "Just go over to her apartment tonight and ask her! You don't even have to do it in front of her parents!"

"I think I'd feel better if I got her dad's permission first."

"Whatever works for you, man."

They arrived at the dump pile and set the tires down where all of the other tires were. The 'pile' actually consisted of several small piles of various car parts. They were about to make their way back to the car Keith had been working on when they saw two soldiers run forward and begin to beat an older man who had fallen under the weight of his load. Knowing that he couldn't do anything, Keith stood by and watched the horrific sight but after awhile he noticed that Markus wasn't with him and he looked around wildly for him for a few seconds when he suddenly reappeared near the side of the tire pile.

And he was holding a long thick piece of metal in his hand.

"Markus, what the hell are you doing?!" Keith whispered loudly as he ran to him and crouched down beside him.

"Being a good Samaritan," Markus replied, his voice suddenly serious. "Someone's got to have a sense of decency in this hellhole."

Keith instantly grabbed his arm, figuring that he was going to attack of one the guards who were assaulting the old man. "Markus, don't do it, please! They'll kill you!"

"Then, I might as well take one of those bastards with me," Markus answered without looking at him.

Instantly, Keith tightened his grip on his friend and hissed into his ear. "Don't do this because soon we're all gonna be cured."

"Yeah, when we're dead," Markus snapped. "Now, let go of me!"

"No, really, it's true!" And in a last ditch attempt to save his friend since he was losing his hold on him, he added. "I heard it on the radio!"

* * *

At his words, Markus stopped struggling and whipped his head around to stare at him. "You…_what_?"

"I—I heard about a cure or at least a treatment for all of the diseases that got us here," Keith whispered.

"And where did you hear this?"

"On the radio, a report from London, I think." Keith told him. "Now, shut up or---"

"Hey!"

The two boys looked up to see a soldier glaring down at them. "What are you two doing?!" He snarled. "Get up! Back to work!"

Keith and Markus instantly scrambled to their feet and began walking to the cars that they had been working on. But when Keith arrived at his, he found another soldier waiting for him.

"Have you been working on this car, boy?" he asked in strangely calm voice.

"Yes, sir."

"Really? It looks just the same as it did when it arrived here. What have you been doing, I wonder?"

"I—I was helping a friend carry some tires, sir."

"And it took you only until _now_ to get back?"

"Well, it's a long walk, sir."

He knew that as soon as the words were out of his mouth that he shouldn't have said anything at all because as soon as they were, the soldier's face transformed into an angry mask and out came the riding crop in his belt and he smacked Keith so hard across the face that he cried out and fell to the ground.

"You damn Imperfect!" he shouted as he mercilessly unleashed blow after blow upon him. "How _dare_ you talk back to me?! You stupid, lazy wretch!"

Even though he had shielded his face with his hands, he could still sense that every eye was on him, watching as another of their own was punished for absolutely no reason at all.

True, Keith had been beaten around before, but never this intensely or for such a seemingly long amount of time. He gritted his teeth and curled himself into a tight fetal position as the crop cut at his skin, his gray uniform doing little to absorb the blows.

He could feel each strike in his very bones it seemed, each a sharp jolt of pain as it reverberated throughout his body. He never allowed himself to cry out, but waited for it all to end.

Finally when it appeared that the soldier had had enough, he stopped and Keith allowed himself to relax a little only to be grabbed roughly by his shirt and hauled to his feet.

"Have I made myself clear?" the soldier inquired, his face inches from Keith's.

"Y—Yes, sir," he croaked in reply.

"Good!" With that, he dropped Keith unceremoniously on the ground and delivered a hard, final kick to his stomach. Then he abruptly marched away while Keith lay gasping on the ground.

* * *

Five hours later as they rode back to camp, the beating that he had endured was still playing in his mind. He couldn't believe what an injustice it all was! Why were people like him kept here? What purpose did it serve? If they were hated so much, why were so many of them still alive?

Of course, Keith knew the answers to all of these questions as they whirled around his head, he just didn't want to have to answer them for himself.

"Hey, Keith?" asked a voice suddenly.

He looked up and saw that Markus had moved over to sit beside him.

"Hi," he answered dully.

"So, I've been meaning to ask," said Markus in a slight whisper (not that it mattered as everyone around them was so tired that they were nearly half asleep anyway) "about your radio."

"What radio?"

"The radio that you head the news about the cures on!"

"Oh…that radio."

"Yeah, so, how come you never told me you had a radio?"

"I never said that."

"Yes, you did! You said—"

"Markus," said Keith firmly, "I just got the shit beat out of me today and I really don't want to argue with you right now about a radio that I don't have, okay?"

Markus looked a little disappointed but nodded. "Okay, Keith, I understand."

"Thanks, man." He groaned and then with a heavy sigh, he leaned his head against the side of the truck and closed his eyes.

* * *

Keith was surprised that he was even able to walk home once they got back. The pain from his beating was starting to kick in along with an immense fatigue and all he wanted to do was go home and sleep.

When he finally did make it home, he found Kevin and Kurt waiting for him at their tiny kitchen table.

"Howdy, guys," he greeted them, cracking a sardonic smile.

"Keith, what—what the _hell_ happened to you?" Kurt asked, getting to his feet.

"What do you mean?" Keith asked in mock surprise.

"Your cheek! It's all bruised!"

Keith fingered his cheek lightly and winced at the touch. He had forgotten the slap he had been given before the rest of the assault had followed.

"I, uh I got the shit beat out of me at work today," he told them as he crossed his arms on the table and lowered his head tiredly onto them.

"I'll say," said Kurt, "since you look like shit too."

Keith said nothing since he expected Kevin to make some scolding remark or ask him what had caused him to receive such a punishment. But after a few minutes of silence and Kevin still did not say anything, Keith looked up to see him standing in front of him, holding out a soaked rag.

"For your cheek," he explained. "Since we don't have any ice, it'll have to do to help the swelling."

Keith accepted it and pressed it gently to his swollen cheek yet he still sucked in his breath in pain. Then, he looked up at his roommate and gave him a small smile of gratitude and to his surprise, Kevin smiled back.

**Author's Note: I think this is seriously the longest chapter I have ever written! Hope it was action packed enough and I hope you liked the descriptions of their apartment. I will update when I can and please review!**


	6. Through the Window

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Author's Note: Here's chapter 6 which is MUCH shorter than chapter 5, almost pathetically so but I just couldn't find a good stopping point in that chapter so I just kept going. I'm glad everyone enjoyed that chapter despite the violence. This chapter is very, very tame in comparison since it is from Natalie's POV. Enjoy and please review!

Chapter 6

Through the Window

At first when Natalie looked out her bedroom window, she didn't see anything that was of much interest. Directly outside was their backyard which was enclosed on all sides by a thick stone wall, the same color as the house. But when Natalie squinted slightly against the sun and looked further beyond the wall, she saw their 'weird neighbors'.

They were dressed all in gray and were walking around in groups of twos or threes and sometimes by themselves. She couldn't discern anything else about them except for their gray clothes and because of this, curiosity began to bubble inside of her.

"You see them, don't you?" Cynthia asked from beside her.

"Yup, I sure do."

"Don't they look weird?"

"Not really, well, besides the fact they're all wearing the same types of clothes," said Natalie. "But that could mean anything."

"Like what?"

"Well, they could be working for somebody or something where they have to wear a uniform."

"They don't look like very nice uniforms."

"No, they don't," Natalie admitted. "But maybe they have to wear them so they don't have to worry about getting them dirty."

"Like a farm?"

"Yeah, like a farm."

"Okay, that makes sense," said Cynthia, sounding satisfied. Then she turned and jumped off of the chair. When she was on the floor, she added excitedly. "Let's go tell Zach about them!"

* * *

"Do you see anyone my age?" Cynthia asked twenty minutes later. The three of them were standing next to the far wall in their backyard. Zach was standing on some stacked boxes and was peering over at the strange people through binoculars.

"Nope, sorry, all I see are adults and some people who look like teenagers," he replied without taking his gaze away from the binoculars.

"Are they doing anything, I dunno, farm like?" Natalie asked. "That's what Cynthia and I thought it was."

"Um…no, actually," Zach answered. "They're not really doing much of anything. Just walking around."

"Then, why in the hell are they over there?" Natalie wondered aloud.

"We should go find out!" cried Cynthia. "It's not too far from our house to get there and we could ask them exactly what they're doing over there."

"I don't think that's a good idea, Cynthia," said Zach as he got down off of the boxes.

"But, why not?" she promptly whined.

" 'Cause there's obviously a good reason why they're kept over there," he said. "And I gotta feeling that's it's not something as innocent as just farm work."

"What, like some type of prison?" Natalie asked.

Zach shrugged. "Maybe."

All three of them lapsed into silence after that as each wondered about the people in the gray uniforms. They were so lost in their own thoughts that all three of them jumped in surprise when their mother asked, "What are guys doing out here?"

"Spying on our neighbors," said Cynthia bluntly. "They look weird. Me and Natalie can see them from our windows."

Caroline quirked an eyebrow in surprise. "Neighbors?" she repeated, sounding confused. Then, she turned to a young man beside her who was wearing a black uniform and asked, "I thought you told me there was no one for miles around, Lieutenant."

The Lieutenant gave her a small smile. "I did indeed, Mrs. Anderson because it's true. Those 'neighbors' that your daughter talks about aren't really very nice at all, in fact it would be best to not spare them a thought."

"Why?" Natalie asked instantly. "Is something…wrong with them?"

The Lieutenant nodded. "Yes, everything is wrong with them because those people, well they're not really _people_ at all."

"Then, what are they?" Cynthia inquired curiously.

"They are imperfect and their imperfection makes them deficient enough so that they can't live in normal society, they have to be kept away."

"What sort of—", Natalie started to ask but her mother cut her off.

"I think Lieutenant Marques has answered enough questions about these neighbors of ours and I agree with him, in that we shouldn't give them another thought. So, come on inside, you can help decide what's for dinner tonight."

As her family and Lieutenant Marques walked back toward the house, Natalie stayed where she was and looked at the thick wall that separated them from her supposedly deficient neighbors. What made a person so bad that they needed to be kept so far away from civilization? And why did no one give them a straight answer for their being there? They seemed harmless enough, what was the big secret?

Natalie couldn't answer her own questions, but the attitudes of her mother and Lieutenant Marques, certainly made her want to find out their answers.

* * *

An hour later, she was in her room reading when she heard a knock on her door. Thinking that it was probably her mother wanting her to do some chore, Natalie was very surprised to see that it was the young Lieutenant.

He gave her a small smile despite her shocked expression and said, "I forgot to introduce myself when we met earlier. My name is Raphael, but you can call me Raff."

"Natalie," she answered as they shook hands. "And, um if you don't mind my asking, how old are you?"

"Seventeen."

"Then, how are you already a Lieutenant?"

"I started young, at thirteen actually."

"Wow, that's amazing. So have you been working here long?"

"Just for a few months before your dad was assigned here."

"Oh, have you met him?"

"I have, he's a smart man and very good at his job already. You should be proud of him."

"I wish I could be proud of him," Natalie said suddenly, "but the truth is, how can I be proud of him if I don't even know what he does?"

Raff gave her a confused look. "You mean you don't know what your dad does at his job?"

"No, can you tell me?"

Here, he smiled, "Remember those people that you saw earlier? The ones all in gray?"

"Yeah."

"Well, basically your dad oversees them and makes sure they do their job right and punishes them if they don't."

"And that job is…?"

"I'm, er I'm not at liberty to say. It's secret stuff and like I said earlier, they're deficient, and not worth thinking about."

Natalie nodded but she was unsatisfied with his answer. "Okay, well thanks for telling me about my dad."

"You're welcome," he replied. "Now, I have some things to attend to so you have a good rest of the night. See you around, Natalie."

"Thanks, see you around, Raff."

* * *

That night, while she was brushing her teeth in the downstairs bathroom (the only bathroom in the entire house), she thought she heard voices coming from the kitchen. She rinsed out her mouth and then paused to listen. Yes, they were again and they sounded like her parents'.

"Peter, I though you said it was miles away," her mother was saying.

"It is," replied her father. "How was I supposed to know that you could see it from upstairs?"

"Are the kids in danger, then?"

"No, once their cases become too severe, we send them away. So there's no need to worry about the kids getting anything."

"Are Maria and Luke…one of them?"

"No, they are not but I am thinking of bringing a few of them here to do odd chores and such and also so I keep an eye on them."

" 'Them'? You're going to bring more than one here?"

"No, actually just one at the moment. He's been giving the other officers some trouble with planning to escape and just today he talked back to one at work. There's also his eye color to consider."

"What in the world does that have to do with anything?"

"They're green, Caroline," her dad replied gravely.

Natalie heard her mother gasp audibly at his words and she herself raised her eyebrows in surprise. This boy that they were talking about, had _green_ eyes. That was impossible; no one had green eyes anymore.

"Green eyes!" Caroline exclaimed in a loud whisper. "Peter, you can't bring him here, you just can't!"

"Don't worry, I'm just going to have a few of my men keep an eye on him and if he doesn't cause any more trouble then he can stay right where he is and we won't worry about him anymore."

Her mother seemed satisfied with that answer but Natalie wasn't. What was so horrible about the place where her father worked that someone would want to escape from? What was so bad about being one of 'them'? And more importantly, why was everything such a huge secret?

As her parents continued talking about other things, Natalie made a beeline up the stairs and to her bedroom. When she arrived, she decided since no one was apparently going to give a straight answer about strange people in gray, she was just going to have to find out for herself.

**Author's Note: For those who are confused: a long time ago, especially during the Salem Witch Trials, it was thought that people with green eyes were witches, practiced black magic, or in the case of Ireland, had been taken and 'changed' by fairies.**

**Hope that wasn't too short, considering the last chapter was so long! Please review!**


	7. When the Truth Kills

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Author's Note: I meant to update this story last night, but my friend wanted me to watch The Notebook with her, so I did and did not update this story. Sorry about that, but here is chapter 7 which is nice and long. A lot of stuff happens in this chapter so enjoy (as much as you can that is) and please review!

_**Warning: This chapter contains character death…it's not major character but it is character death just the same.**_

Chapter 7

When the Truth Kills

The curfew siren had not even gone off yet when Keith collapsed into bed that night. The effects of his beating were starting to take their toll and his back in particular, burned with pain. He had just begun to drift into what he was sure was going to be a fitful sleep when someone whispered loudly. "Keith, wake up!"

He cracked open one eye and mumbled sleepily. "Who's there?"

"It's me, Markus."

"What the hell do you want?"

"I need your help."

"With what?"

"Proposing to Rachel, I just can't go and face her dad by myself."

"You're a poor excuse for a boyfriend, Mark," remarked Keith as he slowly eased himself up into a sitting position. "You wanna propose to this girl yet you can't work up the guts to just 'cause of her big scary daddy?"

"I didn't fall in love with her dad, asshole, I fell in love with _her_!" Markus snapped. "Besides, I just need you there for moral support and I know you're hurting after what happened today but I really need your help, man."

Keith sighed heavily. "Fine. Help me up, will you?"

Markus smiled with gratitude as he looped an arm loosely around Keith's shoulders and gently pulled him to his feet. Then, they made their way to Rachel's apartment.

* * *

When they arrived, it was Rachel who answered the door.

"Markus!" she cried happily as she flung her arms around his neck. "Where have you been? I haven't seen you in ages! I thought you'd broken up with me or something?!"

"I would never break up with you, you'd be too hard to forget," Markus answered as he kissed her affectionately on the cheek. Seeing the loving gesture, Keith felt a twinge of jealously inside of him. True, there were as many women and girls in the compound as there were men and boys but no one had really taken any notice of him as other than just a friend…or a rebel. As he had watched Markus' friendship with Rachel grow and blossom into a romance, he realized that even in a place so full of sadness and pain, there could be happiness and love.

He just wished that it could happen to him too.

He was drawn out of his thoughts when Rachel said, "Hello, Keith, what are you doing here? Not that I mind, of course." She added with a sweet smile.

Before he could come up with a possible answer, Markus said, "He, um had a disagreement with a solider today at work and he needs some medical help if you have any."

Rachel nodded slowly. "Yes, Dr. Kirschbaum should have something for him, come on in." And she opened to the door wider to allow the two boys to enter.

Rachel's apartment was a lot like Keith's except there were many more people…and most of them seemed to be sitting in the spacious front room as Keith saw many pairs of eyes look up at their entrance.

"Hello, Markus, what a pleasant surprise!" said Rachel's mother, Susan as she walked over to them. "And, Keith! Hello, dear, how are you?"

"Oh, I'm doing all right," Keith lied, knowing that Rachel's mother would worry and fuss over him if he told her about his beating. It had always amazed him how Rachel's mother was able to act as normally as she did. Instead of worrying about when her next meal would come, she worried whether or not everyone in her apartment had enough blankets (which they often didn't) or if they were getting enough sleep.

"Good, I'm glad, so what brings you here tonight, boys?"

"I, um I have something to talk to your husband about," Markus told her, as he quickly whipped off his baseball cap.

"And I just came 'cause I hadn't seen you guys in awhile," Keith added.

"Well, him and Rachel were in the middle of a chess game so he's over here." As she spoke, she turned and led them to a corner of the room where Max Kronstein was hunched over a chess board in concentration.

Keith wasn't exactly sure why Markus was so uncomfortable around Rachel's father. Granted he was a tall man with a stern looking face but other than that he didn't seem all that imposing. His remaining hair was hidden by a black beret that he wore in all weather and from where he stood, Keith could see the red armband on his forearm, meaning that he suffered from some type of heart condition.

When the four of them were standing over him, Rachel said gently, "Dad, I'm already beating you and besides, Markus is here and he has something he wants to talk to you about."

"Until the last has been spoken, the curtain cannot come down," Max replied without looking up at her or acknowledging Markus and Keith's presence. He was quite proud of his past as a stage actor and would often quote the plays that he had been in or make references to the theater. As they watched, he moved a bishop up one space and soon as he had done so he looked up at the two boys. While he waited for one of them to speak, he didn't notice as Rachel moved her queen so that she effectively captured his bishop.

"Forgive me for interrupting your evening, Mr. Kronstein," said Markus politely, "but I have something very important to ask you and I'm not exactly sure how to say it."

"Just come out and say it, boy, that's usually the best way," said Max gruffly.

"Well, I…oh, um before I forget, I have these for you," said Markus and he pulled out two medium-sized turnips from his pocket and smiling shyly, handed them to Susan.

"Two turnips!" she gasped. "Oh, thank you!"

"You're welcome," he answered looking relieved. "I know it's not much in exchange for your, um…" He gestured vaguely at Rachel who was looking extremely confused.

Keith was just beginning to wonder he was going to have to ask Mr. Kronstein _for_ Markus when his friend said in a surprisingly brave voice. "Mr. Kronstein, I am here to ask permission for the hand of your daughter."

His wife instantly squealed with delight and Rachel's face split into the biggest smile that Keith was sure, had ever been seen in the compound. She looked expectantly at her father whose face had remained impassive.

"Rachel," he said, "you and Mr. Zetterstrom go upstairs, I need a private word with Markus."

Rachel's face fell but she nodded and got to her feet. She didn't even look at Keith as they climbed the creaking steps.

"I just know he's going to say 'no'," she confessed when they had reached the second floor. "He's never really liked Markus from the beginning."

"Is it because he hangs out with me?" Keith asked.

"No, he was fine with you….until you started talking about those escape plans then he thought you were asking for trouble."

"I seem to give that impression to people."

"That's not such a bad thing."

"Yes, it is."

"No, I admire you for having the guts to even _make _some plans."

"Really? Thanks, Rache."

"You're welcome. Now, come on, I'll take you to Dr. Kirschbaum's apartment."

And she led the way further down the dim hall.

* * *

Meanwhile, downstairs, Max Kronstein gazed intently at the boy who sat across from him.

"Do you know where we are, Markus?" he asked in all seriousness and before Markus reply, the older man went on, "Nearly every other week there are trains coming to take us away to the Lab and you're making matrimonial plans? We have learned to live without firewood, decent clothing and decent food, but no, Markus, you can live without such high hopes for the future."

"But, sir, we _have _a future," Markus protested. "We're all going to be cured."

"Someday yes, there may be someone who has a sense of decency for people like us but who will be around to see it?"

"We will!" Markus cried. "All of our suffering is going to end, you can almost count the hours!"

At his words, Max slammed his hand on the table, subsequently knocking over his chess game. "Don't do this to my family, you ignorant boy! Don't come here and fill our heads with false hopes and fantasies!"

"Sir, do you know where London is?"

"Do I know where London is? _Of course_, I know where London is! I saw _King Lear _there three times!"

"Then you may want to know that London is reporting that they have found documents that contain cures or treatments for all of our diseases," said Markus in a slight whisper as he was distinctly aware that everyone in the room was now hanging onto his every word.

"Oh, really?" said Max sarcastically. "Did the Commander himself inform of this?"

"Well, no but just between you and me…and Susan and Rachael and…everybody else here." Now he looked to see five pairs of eyes watching him intently. Markus swallowed before he turned back to Max Kronstein and said, "Keith Zetterstrom told me."

"Oh, Keith Zetterstrom, the illustrious escape planner!" cried Max in mock surprise. "Well, if he said then it _must_ be true!"

Markus paused before he replied in a slight whisper. "He's got a radio."

* * *

Upstairs, Keith was lying on his stomach on someone's bed, luxuriating in the numbing comfort that the bag of ice chips brought to his back.

"I still can't believe Dr. Kirschbaum has a working refrigerator," he said for the umpteenth time. "Or that I never realized what a godsend those things are."

"I know," Rachel agreed, "but I guess, now with our situation, it's the little things that really make a difference."

"Totally," Keith agreed.

"Ready to go back downstairs?"

"No, I think I'll permanently move in here."

"You can take the ice with you if you want."

"Really?"

"Sure, why not."

"Well, in that case, let's go."

A few minutes later, Keith and Rachel rejoined Markus downstairs and while Rachel's father did not give a definite answer on whether or not the two of them could get married, he did not tell them that they could never see each other again. Satisfied with this answer, they said good night and soon after, Keith and Markus headed for home.

* * *

As soon as the two boys had left and his daughter had gone to bed, Max headed straight for the ground floor kitchen and into the pantry, his wife following closely behind.

"Max, what in the world are you doing?" she asked, as he pulled various boxes and cans off of the shelf. He didn't reply until he had found what he was looking for and turned to face her…with a radio in his arms.

"Max!" Susan gasped instantly. "You've been hiding a radio all this time?!"

"Don't worry, it doesn't even have a plug," said Max as he placed it on the worn table, "and now I'm going to reduce it to splinters." He opened a drawer that had been built into the table and after rummaging around in it for a few minutes, pulled out a hammer.

"Wait, wait!" cried his wife, laying a hand on his arm to stop him. "Couldn't we just listen to it for a minute?"

"Excuse me but what will happen when the soldiers find out that Keith Zetterstrom has a radio? They will search the compound and what will they find? This radio! Oh, I could tell that I never listened to it and that it doesn't even work but they will shoot me anyway! And as an encore, they will hang me in the main square right next to that idiot Zetterstrom boy!"

With that, Max raised the hammer and brought smashing down onto the useless radio.

* * *

The next morning, Keith was feeling considerably better after sleeping with the bag of ice on his back. True, his back still hurt and he knew he would have bruises for a long time but it was better than it had been.

As he made his way to Andy's, he noticed that many people were greeting him whom he had barely said a word to before. He only nodded in reply as he wondered what had caused them all to take such a sudden notice of him.

It wasn't until he got to Andy's that he discovered the answer.

"So, what's new?" Andy asked over another game of pool.

"Oh, not much," said Keith.

"I heard about your punishment at work the other day, I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, I shouldn't have said anything."

"Still, it's a stupid reason to smack the hell out of someone."

"Smacking the hell out of anyone is stupid in and of itself."

"True."

Keith was about to ask how he was doing since his suicide attempt when Andy asked rather bluntly, "How long have we been friends?"

"Since we came here? I dunno."

"You come in here nearly every day to play pool and in all that time, you never said anything about radio!" Andy nearly yelled at him.

"What radio?" Keith asked innocently. "I have as many radios as I have blankets for my bed…which is none at the moment."

"Oh, _come on_, Keith! Everybody knows you've got a radio?!"

"What do you mean _everybody_ knows?"

"It's travelling nearly as fast as the news about your escape plans."

"Well, that's just wonderful," said Keith sarcastically as he threw down his cue stick. "That means by tonight the Bulls will know all about it." As he grabbed his cap from the hat rack, he added lightly. "You still have that rope? I might need it soon."

He walked as fast as he could down the street, looking every which way for Markus. Even though Andy hadn't said anything about Markus telling about the radio, he _knew_ it was him because of what had happened at work yesterday.

He spotted him standing with a group people as they shared a cigarette between them, but Markus also spotted Keith coming towards him and quickly broke away from the group and down the street. But Keith was faster and soon he had caught him by his shirt and hurled him against the back wall of a store.

"Oh, hello, Keith," said Markus brightly. "I want you to be the first to know that Mr. Kronstein agreed to let me marry Rachel."

"Really? Well, _mazel tov_ to both of you!" Keith cried in mock happiness.

"Thank you."

"What about our news, huh, Mark?"

"Keith…I only told the Kronsteins and a few friends," Markus began before Keith smacked him upside the head.

"You, _idiot_! You told Andy, who's the closest thing to a bartender! A bartender, the biggest mouth in town!"

"Keith, I'm sorry, I---"

"Shut up!" Keith snapped. He glared at him for a moment before he hissed in his ear, "Murderer." Then, he turned and stormed away.

* * *

He didn't speak to Markus at all during their morning shift at work, in fact he didn't speak to anyone at all but diligently worked on his car. He half expected one of the soldiers to grab him and demand for his radio…a radio that he didn't even have or had ever had.

During his lunch break, Keith sat on a crate staring into his bowl of watery soup, wondering what the future now held for him when someone asked, "So, what cures have they come up with?"

Keith looked up to see that several people had situated themselves around him and the person who had spoken was an older man sitting to his right.

"Um…what cures?" He asked feigning innocence.

"The cures that your radio told you about!" said a black haired man whom Keith knew was named Richard.

"Oh, that, um well it mentioned tuberculosis."

"Everyone with TB was sent to the Lab, boy! So it's too late for them, obviously," said Richard stiffly.

"Calm down, Rich, he's just telling us what he heard," another man admonished. To Keith, he said, "What other diseases did they talk about?"

"Um…cancer and bipolar disorder, I think. Oh, yeah and diabetes."

"Really?" Markus piped up. "What did they say about it?"

But before Keith could answer, Richard's brother, Jeff ran up to him, looking worried.

"Rich, I heard voices coming from those boxcars!" He gestured over to the train that had arrived earlier that morning. "No one's gotten off, so that means they're going to the Lab! We have to tell them!"

"What can you tell the dead that they don't already know?" Keith asked in all seriousness.

"What's the matter with you, Keith?" Jeff cried, shocked. "You're the one who said we're all going to cured and free soon?!"

"Maybe I did, maybe I didn't but what you mind keeping that to yourself, Jeff," Keith said. He glanced around then making sure that none of the guards had overheard them.

"Come on, Jeff, there's nothing you can do, sit down," said Richard gently as he stood up and tried to move his brother over beside him.

"No! We have to speak to them!" And before his brother could stop him, Jeff turned and sprinted toward the train. Everyone got to their feet then and watched as he reached one of the boxcars. They were too far away to hear what he was saying, but everyone knew he was telling them about Keith's radio.

As he watched with his heart somewhere around his navel, Keith kept glancing up at one of the guard towers where one guard had noticed what Jeff was doing. His insides melted as the guard raised his gun…

BANG!

There was a _thump_ as Jeff fell to the ground beside the tracks and then silence.

"NO!" Richard hollowed and lunged towards his dead brother only to be tackled by Markus and another man. The full force what had happened hitting him now like a blow to his stomach, Keith ran forward and gasped, "Richard, I---"

"You did this!" Richard shouted at him. "Did you have to shout from the rooftops that we would all be cured soon?" He struggled against the hold on him as tears streamed down his face. When he was on his feet but heavily supported by Markus and the other man, he continued at a shout, "Look where it got my brother?! You _killed_ my brother, you…you good for nothing LIAR!" He screamed and then dissolved into tears again as he was dragged back to where the others were.

They left Keith standing all alone, nearly on the verge tears himself as he realized all that he had done.

**Author's Note: Depressing ending, I know. But that is what happens in the movie, **_**Jakob the Liar **_**which this story is a crossover of, as you all know. **

**On happier note, I think I am going to Natalie and Keith meet in the next chapter which I will update when I can! In the meantime, please review!**


	8. The Boy Beyond the Fence

**Author's Note: Hello, all! Wow, thank you for all of the reviews on The Goodbye Scene. I'm glad you liked it even though it was so sad and that you thought it was a very good death scene since it was the first that I've ever written. **

**Well, here is the next chapter of The Color Yellow which contains the meeting of Keith and Natalie! I actually watched **_**The Boy in the Striped Pajamas**_** before I wrote this chapter so you may recognize some lines from that movie, albeit slightly altered obviously. **

**Thanks again for all of the reviews for The Goodbye Scene, hope you enjoy the chapter and please review!**

Chapter 8

The Boy Beyond the Fence

As much as Natalie wanted to find out more about the strange people in gray, the next week proved to be busier than she had intended. Since she had met Raff, she found herself spending more and more of her time with him which made the hours and days just seem to fly by.

Granted, they did spend most of their time talking and walking around the yard but it was better than sitting around the house. On such a walk, a few days after they had first met, Natalie asked him. "I thought I heard a train go by a couple of nights ago, is there a station nearby or something?"

"There is," said Raff. "It's to bring in supplies for the Imperfects, you know, food and stuff."

"Imperfects?"

"Yeah, that's the official name for them, since they, you know, are."

"And what makes them 'imperfect' again?"

"Individual deficiencies," was the curt reply. It was obvious that he didn't want to discuss the subject further and not wanting to upset him with her constant questions, Natalie quickly changed the subject. "So, I was wondering, is it possible to get a phone line out here? I noticed we don't have one."

"Why don't you ask your dad," Raff said then. Confused, Natalie directed her gaze to where he was looking and saw her dad striding towards them in full uniform.

"Why, good afternoon, Natalie, it's nice to see you out of the house for once!" he laughed when he reached them. "I see you've met Lieutenant Marques?"

"Yeah, I have," she said with a smile. "He was just telling me to ask you if we could get a phone line."

"Oh, really?" said her dad with a glare of mock sternness at Raff. "So, you're persuading my daughter to further distance herself from her family, hmm?"

Well, she's the one who brought it up," said Raff, looking a bit uneasy but he laughed when Pete chucked at his expression. "I'm just teasing you, Lieutenant! But unfortunately, there some things that I have to discuss with you that are no laughing matter." Here, he turned to Natalie said, "We'll talk about getting a phone for you later tonight. I'm sure you're anxious to talk to Brooke, aren't you?"

Natalie nodded.

"Of course you are, but as I said, I have to talk to Lieutenant Marques about a few things."

"Okay, guess I'll go see what Zach's up to," said Natalie with a shrug. "See you later tonight, Dad."

"See you, Nat."

She made sure that they saw her turn the corner of the house to go back inside but she was out of their range of vision, she flattened herself against the cool stone and listened intently.

"So what did you want to talk to me about, Commander?" Raff asked in a formal voice.

"Have you heard anything about why that rat went near the train a few days ago? They know very well they aren't supposed to go near there."

"No, sir, but from what I heard, he was trying to talk to the transports."

"_Talk_ to them?" Pete repeated. "About _what_? The Lab? They don't know anything about the Lab!"

"I know, sir, it's all really weird."

"Yes, it is and I don't like it one bit," Pete snapped, spitting out the words like a foul taste in his mouth. "Has his brother said anything about why he did it?"

"Not really, sir. He was crying all over the place, kept saying that his brother was sick in the head and didn't know what he was doing."

"Was he? Sick in the head?"

"I don't know, sir."

Having heard enough and figuring that the conversation was almost over, Natalie quickly hurried inside so she wouldn't get caught and to think about all she had heard.

* * *

It was Zach who found her pacing in her room, nearly half an hour later.

"What the heck are you doing, Nat?" he asked instantly.

"Thinking," she answered.

"About?"

"Those people that Cynthia and I saw a couple of days ago."

"Well, when you're done, I got somethin' I want you to help me with."

Natalie looked at him. "And what would that be?"

"Well, I figure since there's nothin' else to do around here, we could clean up the basement."

"And what's the point of that?"

"Uh…save us from killing each other out of boredom?"

"Okay, I'll help since I'm sort of brain dead thinking about those people."

"Awesome!"

* * *

While it might have been a good idea at first, the actual process of cleaning was much larger than either of them had expected. For one thing, even though the basement amazingly did not have any mold damage, it was still so disgusting that Natalie wondered if had been used at all.

The simple act of cleaning out the dust mites and dead animals took the rest of the day and by the end Natalie was exhausted and had found another reason to hate her brother.

Yet, despite her hard feelings, the basement became their 'project' as it turned into a week long ordeal. And Natalie found that, instead of spending so much time with her brother annoying, she actually enjoyed talking to him and thinking up things that they could use such a spacious basement for.

"I still say a game room," said Zach during one such discussion. "I mean, a pool table, air hockey, Foosball…they would all totally fit!"

"Yeah, that would be great for when all of your friends come over," said Natalie sarcastically.

"Hey, I have tons of friends!...They're just not here at the moment."

"Yeah, I noticed."

"Whatever. Hey, what do you want to do with that secret room we found?"

"I dunno, I was thinking we could just clean it out like the rest of it and just, well leave it."

"_Leave it_?!" Zach cried. "We can't _leave_ it! It's hidden so we obviously have to come up with some purpose for it."

"Well, when you come up with a purpose for it, let me know."

"Okay, I will."

Although neither of them knew it then, the hidden room would eventually have a purpose but it would be for a much darker one than either of them could have thought.

They bought some paint at the local store in the small town that was closest to their house. And then they spent the rest of the day painting the whole basement, including the secret room the entire room, a standard shade of white because as Zach said, "It won't make the place so damn scary." When they finished, they showed their parents their work like two elementary school students bringing home their art projects.

"You guys, this is wonderful!" Caroline gasped as she walked around the room. "I can't believe you did this all on your own!"

"It really wasn't that hard, Mom," said Zach.

"It looks really good, guys," Pete agreed. "It's amazing how much a little color can brighten things up, huh?"

"Yeah," Natalie agreed with a smile, surprisingly very proud of her work, minimal as it was.

"How come you didn't let me help?" Cynthia whined.

" 'Cause you can't paint right," Zach told her.

"Yes, I can!"

"No, you can't, you get it everywhere else _but_ the place where it's supposed to be."

They all burst out laughing at Cynthia's intense scowl.

Now that her project with Zach was done, Natalie quickly became bored again and early in the second week of living at their new house, she decided that she would go out and explore the woods around their house or else she would surely die of cabin fever.

And that was exactly what she did.

* * *

She got up early one morning, and packed herself some lunch since she had no idea how long she would be and didn't want to get hungry on the way. Then, she scribbled a quick note to her mom and after that, she was on her way.

She decided the best thing to do was to just walk straight out of her backyard to avoid getting lost. Since there was no door in the wall that enclose their yard, she simply stacked up the boxes that Zach had used earlier to peer over it and after a rather shaky climb and precarious jump to the ground below, she was standing in front of a large and dense looking forest.

_Well, there's no point in standing here looking at it, besides it's not like there's anything dangerous in there,_ she told herself as she boldly took one step forward. _At least I hope not._

As visions of the fates of Little Red Riding Hood and Snow White flashed before her eyes, she continued walking further into the forest.

It really wasn't all that bad as it had been at first; in fact it was very peaceful. The foliage wasn't too dense for her to walk through and she even found a little path from time to time. The sunlight that slanted through the trees gave it an almost magical air and Natalie wondered if she would find something akin to a gingerbread house or a castle at the end of her hike.

Well, she _did_ find something, but it was as far from a castle or gingerbread house as one could get.

As she continued walking she noticed that the trees began to thin and that she could see more blue sky than before and what looked like a road, the same road that they had driven on to get to their new house, she realized after a moment. Wanting to avoid the road in case anyone should see her, Natalie veered right and walked back into the woods. But soon she arrived at a particularly dense patch of pines which forced her to turn right again. She continued walking as the trees grew steadily closer and closer together and it took more effort on her part to walk through them.

It was after she had fought her through yet another dense set of trees (there was no path after all) that she saw him.

He was sitting a few feet to her left behind a high chain link fence that stretched as far as Natalie could see. He had his legs drawn up to his chest and his face was buried in his knees. So the only things that Natalie could see of his features were that he had dark brown hair…and that he was _dressed all in gray_.

Knowing instantly that he was one of her 'weird neighbors', Natalie moved as quietly as she could so she wouldn't startle him. When she was standing a few feet away from him but was now facing him, she said nervously. "Um…hello."

His head shot up as she had shouted at him and Natalie gasped softly as she saw the most brilliant pair of green eyes staring at her with a mixture of fright and surprise.

He opened and closed his mouth several times, struggling to find a reply. He soon gave up and looked wildly behind him even though there wasn't a soul in sight. When he looked back at Natalie, he looked a little calmer and said, "Hi."

"I, um, I hope I'm not disturbing you," she said lamely. "I was just exploring and when I saw you, well…"

"You got curious," said the boy with an amused smile. "Typical, I guess, since it's not every day you see a guy sittin' behind a fence."

"No, definitely not," Natalie agreed. "I'm Natalie by the way."

"Keith."

"Sorry?"

"I'm Keith."

"That's a weird name," said Natalie without thinking. "I've never heard of anyone called Keith before."

"Well, I've never heard of anyone called Natalie, so I guess we're even," he said.

"I guess we are," Natalie grinned.

They lapsed into silence after that, neither of them knowing what to say next, so Natalie took the opportunity to study this strange boy who came from beyond the fence.

Besides the fact that he was wearing all gray save for a burnt orange armband on his left upper arm, his dark brown hair grew longer as it got towards the back and a few strands fell into his green eyes that instead of being the typical emerald green, they were like the color of fresh leaves in springtime. Yet the one thing that Natalie found particularly disturbing was that he looked a bit…sickly. She could tell he was undernourished from his sunken cheeks and pale face. Not only that, but there was a good-sized harsh looking bruise on his cheek.

What in the world went on over there?

Wanting to break the awkward silence, Natalie cleared her throat and said, "So, um, how old are you?"

"Seventeen."

"Me too."

"Why are you dressed all in gray?"

"The soldiers, they took all of my other clothes away and burned them."

Natalie raised her eyebrows. "Really? My dad's a soldier, a very important one I've been told but he doesn't take people's clothes away."

"I don't like soldiers," Keith stated.

"Why not?"

In reply, he pointed to his cheek.

"Oh, I'm sorry, it looks awful. How did you get it?"

"A solider hit me with a riding crop."

Natalie stared. "He…_hit_ you…with a _riding crop_!"

"Uh-huh. It probably looks worse than it is, I can't really feel it anymore."

"It looks like it hurt."

"It did," said Keith.

It appeared that he was uncomfortable talking about it, so not wanting to pressure him further, Natalie said, "I'm sorry for all the questions, it's just I live in a house not far from here and I could see other people like you out my bedroom window. So I've been really curious to find out what you all are doing out here."

"You don't really want to know," said Keith, suddenly serious. "Besides, I have something I want to ask you."

"Oh, okay, what is it?"

"Do you, um do you have any food on you?"

"Yeah, actually I do." She slung her backpack off of her shoulder, opened it and took out the lunch she had packed earlier which contained a turkey sandwich, orange and cookies.

"I would share the sandwich but it isn't cut in half so you can have my orange and cookies," Natalie told him. "There're my mom's homemade ones, so they're really good but I can always get more." She was about to hand them to him when she realized that neither would fit through the chain link.

"There's a spot over here that's been rusted away," said Keith helpfully and he crawled over to a nearby support pole and lifted up a corner of the fence. The opening was just wide enough for Natalie to slide the food through. As Keith took it, she sat down cross-legged on the ground across from him.

"You don't know how much this means to me," said Keith sincerely as he dug his fingernails into the orange.

"What do you have to eat over there? By the way what is 'over there' anyway?"

"It's mostly bread and soup or a potato if you're lucky," said Keith as he began to peel the orange.

"That's it?!"

"Yup, and this is a quarantine compound."

Before Natalie could ask what 'quarantine' meant, Keith had finished peeling the orange and was gulping down each piece at record speed. It was gone in less than five minutes and then he turned to the bag of cookies and looked at them incredulously.

"Are these…_chocolate_?" he breathed.

"Yeah."

As she spoke, he ripped open the bag and stuffed one of the doughy cakes into his mouth and chewed ravenously. She watched as his eyes closed in pleasure as he savored the sweetness. When he swallowed, he glanced longingly at the three others but shook his head. "I better save these for my friends," he told her as he pocketed it.

"You have friends over there?"

"A few, yeah."

"That's not fair!" said Natalie in a much more whiny voice than she intended. "You're over there, playing games with friends and I'm stuck over being bored with nothing to do."

" 'Playing games'?" Keith repeated. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, that armband, it's part of some sort of game, isn't it?"

Here, he chuckled darkly. "Natalie, if what's over here is all a game, then it's a very, _very_ sick and twisted one."

"Tell me about it," she said eagerly. "I want to know why you're being kept over there."

"It's not a very nice story and you're probably gonna get mad at me for telling you."

"No, I won't, I promise. Please, Keith, I want to know."

He sighed. "Okay, I'll tell you but first, can I ask you one very important question?"

"Ask away."

Here, he glanced to his right and left yet there was still no one in sight but even so, he leaned closer to her and asked in a voice just above a whisper.

"Do you have a radio?"

**Author's Note: Hahaha, cliffy! So, how will Natalie react to Keith's situation? You'll have to wait to find out! **

**For those who may be wondering why this story has the title that it does, I am going to be getting to that in the next few chapters, in the meantime, please review!**


	9. Any More News?

**Author's Note: Wow, sorry for not updating in so long! But I've been busy with papers and trying to update another fanfic that I have not updated in over a month! So here is the next chapter and I hope it's not too boring after such a long wait. Enjoy and please review!**

Chapter 9

Any More News?

The week following Jeff's death was the worst that Keith had had at the compound. True, he wasn't blamed for his death but he still felt incredibly guilty about it, knowing that as Richard had shouted at him, he had been an indirect cause of it.

"Don't blame yourself, Keith," Al advised him, at the end of the week which Keith had spent the entirety of in his apartment when he wasn't at work. "If Jeff wanted to save the world, he would've done it himself."

"We need more people like Jeff," Markus added. "He's a hero like you."

"I'm _not_ a hero," Keith snapped. "I'm just a sick kid who can't keep his mouth shut."

That night, he was cheered up considerably when Billy came by for a surprise visit.

"Ever since Markus proposed to Rachel, nobody's any fun anymore," he complained. "I wouldn't even mind if Ben and the others made fun of me 'cause then it would give me somethin' to do."

At that Keith laughed, his first true laugh in a long time and ruffled his young friend's hair and asked teasingly. "Did you just come over here to complain, bud?"

"No, I wanted to ask if you had any more news from your radio," said Billy.

At his words, Keith smiled vanished and he shook his head. "No, sorry, I don't, bud."

"Oh." Billy's face fell. "Okay, then."

Wanting him to cheer him up since they had so little cheer as it was, Keith said brightly. "But I promise that when I do listen to it, you'll be the first one to hear what it said, okay?"

As he suspected, Billy's voice brightened. "Really? Wow! That would be so awesome!"

_Yeah, it would be_, Keith thought to himself, _especially if I could actually _listen_ to a radio. _

* * *

With the start of a new week, Keith decided that he had spent enough time sulking and that even though he couldn't listen to an actual radio, he would still try and give the good news that everyone so desperately craved.

In short, he would lie.

"So, Keith, it's been a week, what has the radio said?" Markus asked that very day during their lunch break.

Keith took a long time in swallowing his crust of bread as he considered Markus' question. "Well," he began slowly, "the report that I heard about the cures was a special report meaning not only that it was important but that you could only hear it at certain time of night like I did."

"I thought you heard it before curfew," said one man, "that doesn't sound like a 'special' time of night."

"It was," Keith assured him, "because where the broadcast was coming from it was really early in the morning but it was still dark out but since it was night here, they obviously got the time change wrong. So, really it was a stroke of luck that I heard it when I did!"

He was lying through his teeth, of course, since the broadcast hadn't been a 'secret' report in the slightest. He had no conception of time changes anyway, so he hoped that those listening wouldn't ask where in the world the broadcast had come from.

He needn't have worried however as Markus promptly exclaimed, "It sure was! So, what else has the radio said?"

"Um, basically that people haven't developed cures for every disease but that they're finding treatments that will lessen the symptoms," said Keith slowly. "So, we do get out of here, there's no guarantee that we'll all be cured."

"It doesn't matter," said Andy, "what matters is that we are there and not here."

Several people voiced their agreement with this statement and then much to Keith's relief, it was time to go back to work.

* * *

Now as he sat at his usual spot, waiting for Natalie to tell him that she had a radio, he couldn't help but wonder how he had managed to get through the rest of the week. With the original news story being so short, he had little of the actual truth to tell left so his lies had become more fabricated as the week had gone on. The worst part had been that people kept asking questions, always wanting more and so forced Keith to come up with an even more fabricated answer.

It had all in all been an extremely nerve racking week, but to see the excited glint in their eyes and the shadow of a smile on their lips had made it all worth it.

He was drawn out of his reminiscing of the past week when Natalie said, "You know, I'm not sure if we have a radio, I bet my dad has one in his office though."

"Do you think you'd be able to listen to it?" Keith asked hopefully.

Her brow furrowed in thought. "Well, I'm technically not allowed in his office but since I've got nothing else to occupy my time with besides books…and now talking to you, I'm sure he'd let me listen once in awhile."

Keith nodded. It was better than a straight 'no'. Now, at least there was a new glimmer of hope.

"Okay, I've answered your question, now will you tell me why you're being kept over there?" she asked then.

"Uh-huh, but first, tell me what you know about the Plague."

"Um, just that it happened a long time ago and that a bunch of people died and they somehow must have cured it because now no one gets really sick anymore and if they do, it's just a cold or something that clears up really fast," said Natalie.

"Okay, that sounds about right," said Keith, nodding. "Except for the part about the cure."

"Why? Do you know what it is?'

"Yeah, it's me."

"_You_?"

"Well, not me specifically but me and other people like me, we're the 'great cure' that they came up with." At her utterly confused expression, Keith decided it was time to launch into the whole story. "So, this plague that happened had symptoms that people had never seen before and it was really hard to control since it spread so quickly and killed people in the process. Well, eventually the source of it must have died out or it just ran its course 'cause suddenly it stopped. But the government really hadn't found an 'exact' cure for it. So, wanting to keep it from happening again and to make sure that society was just oh so _wonderful_ and prefect, they started tracking down anyone who had a long term illness or anything that made them 'abnormal' like a mental illness or something. You with me so far?"

"Yeah, keep going."

"So then with all these sick people, they built these quarantine compounds to keep them all together so they won't infect and poison normal society and that's what I'm living in now and your dad is in charge of it."

"He is?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, then it must not be _too_ bad then. Since he's a really good guy and everything."

"To you maybe, but not to me," said Keith with much more bitterness than he intended. "They treat us like we don't matter at all, 'cause we don't. We're imperfect and they want perfection in everyone so they hate us and starve us and work us to death!" As he spoke, his voice had grown steadily louder in his anger and desire to express his true feelings on his life to someone who had no idea what it was like. When he finished he was aware that he was glaring at the girl who sat across from him and he quickly looked down at his lap.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled, without looking up at her. "I—I guess talking about it makes me realize how completely fucked up it all is and how my life has become a complete waste." He raised his head then, furiously blinking away the impending tears only to find that she had buried her face in her hands.

"Natalie, are you okay?" He questioned when she didn't look up right away.

"No!" she wailed without taking her hands away from her face. "No, I am _not_ okay!" Here, she lowered her hands and continued, "I can see that you aren't getting enough food but I just can't believe that this is actually happening! That…that someone who looks completely normal is being locked up just 'cause they have some disease that everyone is too lazy to fix! God, how could I be so damn _ignorant_!" she finished angrily and much to Keith's surprise she got to her feet and began to pace in front of him, venting her rage.

"I mean, here I was living my life and the worst thing I to worry about was whether I failed a test or not and all the while, you're starving and getting beat for no good reason and I'm not doing _anything_ about it!"

"But, Natalie that's the point," said Keith calmly as he got to his feet as well. "They didn't want you to do anything about it, they didn't and still don't want you to know! 'Cause if you knew about what they did to people like me, then everyone would know that there were still a lot of diseases out there."

"But they aren't necessarily contagious ones, are they?"

"No, but what would you think if suddenly a bunch of new diseases were suddenly in existence with weird names and symptoms?"

"I'd…I'd think I'd catch one."

"Exactly."

"By the way, what do you have that got you in this compound?'

"I've got cancer and the kind I have is with white blood cells so I can't fight off minor stuff like colds as well."

She nodded slowly, having ceased her pacing and they were now standing and facing each other. Neither of them said anything for a few minutes before Keith said, "So, anymore questions?"

"So, my dad runs your compound and he makes other people starve you and beat you?"

"Yeah," said Keith softly, but Natalie was already shaking her head in disbelief. "I can't believe he would do that," she whispered. "I just can't see him doing that. How---how can he be so heartless…and cruel?!"

"I dunno, he probably believes some shit that he's makin' the whole a better place or somethin'," said Keith.

Natalie snorted in disgust. "I bet he does," she snapped. "God, and this is my _dad_ we're talking about!"

"You do believe me, don't you?"

"Well, I'm sure if someone who wasn't in your situation told me, I would've have believed them but now that I can look at you and see your…uh, condition, I can see that's all very real."

Keith said nothing, it just felt good tell someone about his life who lived a completely different one and that that person didn't hate him in the process.

They were silent for awhile after that, neither one knowing what to say or what could possibly be said. Finally, Keith said, "I should probably be getting back before anyone starts to miss me. If I'm gone for too long, I'll get in trouble."

Natalie nodded. "Yeah, I should probably be getting back too. I can try to listen to my dad's radio for you, what do you want me to listen for? Just news?"

"Yeah, well any _good_ news."

"Of course, so I'll see you tomorrow then?"

Keith hesitated. "Well, if I come out here every day it might start to look suspicious, so let's make it every other day or two days."

"All right, sounds good. Well, thank you for telling me everything, Keith and I promise I'll bring more food next time."

"Thanks for sharing your lunch," he replied. Then there was an awkward silence before Keith said, "Well, see you around, Natalie."

"See you, Keith."

* * *

When Keith got back to the compound ten minutes later, he was almost immediately met by Billy and Kurt who demanded, "Where the hell have you been, Keith?"

"At my spot by the fence."

"Why?"

"Doin' some thinking."

"About?"

"Nothing that you need to know about but I found these." And he pulled out Natalie's cookies from his pocket.

"Wow!" Billy cried instantly. "Are those…_cookies_?"

"Yup and they're chocolate chip ones too," Keith told him as he opened the bag and handed him one. Billy took it as if it were glass and stared at for so long that Keith said jokingly, "You're supposed to eat it, bud."

He laughed then as Billy shoved the entire cookie into his mouth and chewed ravenously much like he had done before. Then, he handed one to Kurt, who eyed it suspiciously. "So you just found this bag of cookies by the fence?" He inquired.

"Yeah, and it's just a cookie, Kurt and last time I checked, cookies don't bite," Keith said with a smile and at his words, Kurt reached into the bag and grabbed one. But unlike Billy, he bit into it and chewed slowly, savoring it. When he had swallowed his first bite, the hint of a smile formed on his lips and he said, "Well, wherever you got them, they sure taste good. Thanks, Keith."

"No problem, Kurt," said Keith with a smile. "No problem at all."

**Author's Note: Again, I hope this wasn't too boring and I hope everything made sense! Things will definitely be getting more interesting in the next few chapters, as Keith will get his job at Natalie's house since I know you all have been wondering about that! This will probably the last chapter for a week at least since I have midterms coming up. Hope you liked it and please review!**


	10. Partners in Crime

**Author's Note: Hi, all! I seriously meant to update this story last night (I hope acciodanrad9 can forgive me!) but it was getting longer than expected and I was feeling sleep deprived. So, anyway here is the next chapter where Natalie is able to listen to her dad's radio for Keith. Hope you enjoy and please review!**

Chapter 10

Partners in Crime

Natalie's head was spinning with all that Keith had told her as she made her way back through the woods. She couldn't believe that innocent people like him were being caged and starved for no good reason and to hear that her own father was in charge of such a place made her feel sick inside.

As she walked, she wondered if Keith had met her dad. Had her dad beaten him or had directly ordered someone else to which had resulted in his bruised cheek? Her stomach squirmed at the thought and she remembered the hurt and anger in his eyes as he told the truth about the Plague and how her entire life had been a lie.

Remembering this look in his eye made her even more determined to help him and others like him. Starting with doing what Keith had asked her to do: she would listen to the radio.

She had intended to go search for a radio the moment she got home, but her plans vanished when she stepped inside to find, of all people, Zach waiting for her.

"Where the hell have you been?!" he demanded, the moment she appeared. "You've been gone for hours! It's a good thing Mom and Raff aren't here otherwise they'd be so pissed at you."

"And you aren't enough?" Natalie asked as she moved calmly passed him to throw away the remains of her (and Keith's) lunch. "C'mon, Zach, I left a note saying I was going exploring."

"For _five_ hours?!"

"Believe it or not, Zach, it's a really big woods that we're surrounded by so yeah, it's takes awhile to hike through."

"But what if you'd gotten lost and we didn't know where you were?!"

"Well, obviously since I'm here now, I didn't get lost, I'm fine," she replied in the same calm voice as before. She drank gratefully from the water bottle that she had just gotten out of the fridge and then asked him. "Why are you so upset? I'm the older one; I should be worried about _you_!"

"I…I've just never seen you do something so…adventurous," he admitted.

"Well, Zach, to be honest, I was going a bit stir crazy staying in and around the house all the time," Natalie told him, "and I wanted to see if I could find out more about those people we saw."

His eyes widened with interest then, his anger at her sliding away. "Really? Did you find anything?"

Natalie hesitated. It was tempting to tell Zach everything that Keith had told her, but she didn't know how he would take it and she wanted to keep Keith and the compound a secret for the time being so she told him. "No, I didn't find anything, I think I must've been going in the wrong direction or something."

To her relief, Zach said, "Okay, well, let me know if you find anything."

"I will," Natalie said but to herself she added, _eventually_.

That evening at dinner, she asked her dad, rather bluntly. "Dad, do you have a radio?"

Pete raised his eyebrows in surprise and confusion. "Why do you want to know that?" he inquired in genuine curiosity and not in suspicion as Natalie feared.

"Well, since you obviously haven't done anything about getting me a phone and I can't talk to Brooke, I'd like to hear what's going on in the world and I figured a radio is the next best thing."

To her relief, her dad smiled. "I understand your feeling of being cut off from the world, Natalie and I apologize but it's not like I could choose where my new job was going to be. And yes, I do have a radio. It's in my office and you can listen to it after dinner if you want."

"That'd be great, Dad! Thanks!" she answered happily.

And that was exactly what she did.

* * *

Unfortunately, this did not happen as quickly as she would've liked since Raff arrived as they were finishing dinner and didn't leave until it was nearly midnight. First he had 'something to discuss' with Natalie's father and then he wanted to talk to her. Natalie couldn't concentrate on their conversation as she could before since she knew that Raff worked for her dad and so aided in the mistreatment of the people who lived in the quarantine compound. So, she wasn't able to listen to the radio until Raff left which turned out to be much beneficial than she thought.

Her dad's radio was the standard black box kind that also functioned as a clock. Armed with a notebook and pen, Natalie spent several minutes trying to find a news station, but the only stations she could find were all music, sports or commercials. When she was close to giving up after not finding anything worth telling Keith about, she managed to hear through the static of one station the word 'diseases'.

Heart quickening instantly, she slowly turned the knob so that the static petered out and she could more clearly hear the speaker on the other end.

"I can only stress again that this story is always developing so information may become very contradictory or even be completely false as our reporters have been able to gather very information this new situation," the newscaster said. "But, we have in the studio with us, someone who may be able to shed some light on the story that was reported on by BBW.39 several weeks ago. Please welcome to the studio, Tobias Scholl."

"Toby, please," a second voice replied. "Tobias makes me sound old."

"And how old is that?" asked the newscaster.

"I'm twenty-five."

The newscaster laughed. "That's hardly considered old, Toby."

"I know but I sure feel old, Chris, after everything that's been going on and everything that I've been doing to correct it."

"Can you tell us about that?"

"Well, for starters, the story that BBW.39 reported on is true. There have been documents found that contain treatments for diseases that we haven't seen in a long time but what that station failed to report was that a select few of us already knew about those treatments and were trying to recreate them to help those in need."

"But you wouldn't have wanted that station to report that since then they would've known about your secret group, right?" asked Chris the newscaster.

"Exactly," said Toby, "but the fact that they got hold of the news about the documents makes us a little worried so we've been taking extra precaution."

"A wise decision," commented Chris, "and does your group have a name at all?"

"No, we considered calling ourselves The Doctors but figured that was way too obvious as to what we were doing but I think the whole point of having a nameless secret group helps to keep all the more secret."

"And what prompted you to join this group, Toby?"

"Um, well, my dad was a doctor and I've always wanted to be a doctor even since I was little," Toby began. "Since most doctors had gone into hiding after being persecuted for failing to cure the Plague, I obviously couldn't go to medical school but my dad wanted me to learn as much as I could so we starting looking for sick people who had gone into hiding like us and treating them. It was after a lot of them were being found and sent to the compounds that I knew I had to something to help them beyond just treating their diseases, especially since I considered some of them friends and wanted to help them in that respect."

Natalie's pen hovered over the page as she listened intently. This Toby Scholl had known sick people before they had been taken to the compounds, could he have possibly known Keith? Treated him even? Listening to the young man talk about the compounds and what he was doing to help, made her feel not so alone in her knowledge of them.

She continued to scribble everything that she could about the conversation as Chris and Toby continued to discuss the documents and the compounds and what was being done about revealing the truth.

Towards the end of the conversation, Toby admitted, "What I and the other members of my group would really like is someone who lives in a compound who could somehow give us a firsthand report of what is going on there, since none of us really know. Telling people about the compounds, I think would really open their eyes to everything that's going on."

"It seems like you guys have enough on your plate as it is," Chris joked, "but I can definitely see the benefits of such a person." He paused and then said, "Toby, this has been a very informative and enlightening conversation and I wish it could go on longer but unfortunately we're running out of time. So, _thank you _very much for coming in to talk to us."

"No problem, I'm glad to get the news in any way that I can," said Toby. "Thanks for having me."

"If you're not too busy trying to correct the world, will you come back and see us?"

"That'd be great! I can try and get my dad to come too."

"Awesome, although you've been helpful yourself."

"I try to be, anyway," Toby said and the smile was evident in his voice.

"All right, folks, that's all the time we have. Once again, many thanks to our guest, Toby Scholl for giving us such an extensive interview. We'll be back next week at midnight. This is Chris Graf for WR.182, signing off."

Natalie continued to stare at the radio even as the station dissolved into static. She couldn't believe everything that she had heard and could imagine Keith's face when she told him everything. She recopied some of her notes to make them more legible and then headed up to bed for what she knew was going to be a sleepless night.

* * *

A day later, Natalie was packing her backpack with as much food as she could carry without trying to make it look too suspicious. She had just zipped it shut when her mom entered the kitchen and asked, "Going for a hike again, Nat?"

"Yeah, there was this really cool spot I found that I want to try and find again," she said as she slung her backpack onto her shoulder.

"Well, take this in case you got hot and want to put your hair up," said Caroline and she handed her a yellow ribbon. Natalie glanced at before saying. "Mom, those things are so…_childish_."

"It's all we have, Nat." Ribbons were the only thing that women had to put their hair up, regardless of age. Natalie had heard that there used to be smaller elastic bands that didn't stick out as much as ribbons, but they weren't made anymore and ribbons were the only item for keeping long hair back now and Natalie absolutely hated them.

"I know, I know," Natalie grumbled as she grabbed the ribbon and stuffed into her pocket before she made her way out the back door.

Much to Natalie's displeasure, she ended up using the ribbon as the hike back to the fence was more tiring than the last time, mainly because of her stuffed backpack. Yet her anger and crabbiness disappeared when she saw Keith sitting behind the fence, waiting for her.

"I listened to a radio!" she cried the moment she reached the fence and nearly collapsed in front of him. "Oh my god, Keith, I wish you were there!"

"So tell me what it said!" he cried happily, a smile tugging at his lips.

"How about some lunch first," said Natalie as she opened her backpack.

"Oh, yeah, let's do that first," agreed Keith. "Food is always a good thing."

She handed him an apple and some cold chicken through the gap and then sat back and waited as he wolfed it all down, much faster than she thought possible.

"Keith, slow down, you'll make yourself sick!" she warned as he chomped into the apple.

"I'm starving, Natalie. I don't give a damn if I get sick from eating too fast, at least then I won't be hungry," he managed to say between bites.

But he must have cared because he ate the rest of the apple and Granola bar that she handed him much more slowly after that. When they had both finished eating, Keith asked, "So, tell me the news that you heard on the radio."

Using her notes as a reference, Natalie told him everything that she could about the interview with Toby Scholl. She watched to see if Keith recognized the name at all but his brow remained furrowed in concentration the entire time. When she was finished, however, his face relaxed into a small smile and he said sincerely, "Natalie…this is great. This is…the best news that anyone could've given me."

"No, the best news would be that you were going to be set free from the compound," said Natalie.

"Yeah, but this is the next best thing," said Keith, " 'cause there are other people out there who are aware of my situation and are trying to help…like you."

Natalie lowered her head, humbled by his kind words. "I'm glad you think so highly of me since I feel like I haven't really done much to help."

"Oh, yes, you have. Just coming here and talking to me helps," Keith told her. "It's like we're partners now, partners committing a crime by talking to each other in order to end a crime."

At that, Natalie couldn't help but smile. "I guess we are in a way." There was a brief silence between them before Keith said, rather shyly. "I, um, I like your ribbon. Yellow's my favorite color."

"It is?" Natalie asked, touching it as she spoke. "My favorite color is blue and I hate wearing this stupid thing even though there's no one around to see me wearing it, besides you of course."

"It looks…nice," said Keith, his face reddening in embarrassment.

Natalie smiled. "Thank you." She tugged the ribbon out of her hair, letting her long locks stream down her shoulders and it held out to him. "Here, you can have it. I really don't like it and since it's your favorite color, maybe it can brighten up your situation a bit."

Keith hesitated. "Are you sure…?"

"Positive, I'll just tell my mom that I lost it on my hike, really it's no big deal."

With his face a mixture of gratitude and uncertainty at her simple gift, Keith slid his hand through the gap and Natalie handed him the ribbon. He stared at for several long seconds, holding it just by the edges. Then he looked up at her again and said, "I'd better be getting back. I can't seem to thank you enough for the food, the news and now this ribbon so I'll say it again, thank you, Natalie."

"There's no need to thank me, Keith, the fact that you told me about your life and are brave enough to come and talk to me is enough," she replied. They stood up at the same time and Natalie stepped closer to him so that the only thing separating them was the thin fence. She resisted the urge to slide her fingers through the chain link to touch his hand since she didn't know how he would react. Instead, she simply stared into his calm green eyes.

"Well, until next time, partner," said Keith with wry grin.

"Yeah," said Natalie, blinking furiously to break the spell of his memorizing gaze, "see you next time, Keith."

**Author's Note: Well, there you go! It didn't end with a cliffy but I definitely gave you some things to think about! Again, sorry for not updating sooner but this story has seriously gone in so many directions! I'll have an idea of what I want to write in one chapter and then I'll start writing and it'll completely change. Anyway, sorry for that tangent there, hope you liked it and please review!**


	11. Change of Scenery

**Author's Note: Here's the next chapter! I meant to get this up last night but it turned into one of those late night writing sessions and I got really tired! A lot of stuff happens in this chapter, including Keith getting his job at Natalie's house! So enjoy and please review!**

_**Warning: This chapter contains mild violence, but it's not as bad as the first time, I swear!**_

Chapter 11

Change of Scenery

Against his better judgment, Keith kept Natalie's ribbon in his pocket for the rest of the day which he spent at work. And the day after and the day after that. In fact, he never took it out of his pocket except at night when it was lying on his pillow as he stared at it. He couldn't understand why he was so entranced by such a simple and completely useless thing. The fact that it had been given to him when so much had already been taken away? That it had been given willingly? That the giver was an outsider and someone who had dared to befriend him? He didn't know, all he knew was that whenever he needed comfort or reassurance, he needed to only touch the silk-like smoothness of it and he would instantly feel better.

Surprisingly he was able to spread Natalie's news over several days much to his delight as well as the other inmates. He didn't mention the exact radio stations or the names of Toby Scholl or Chris Graff but nobody seemed to care as they hung onto his every word.

Yet the names themselves intrigued him, especially the name Toby Scholl. Something inside of him told him that he knew that name and not just from Natalie telling it to him. Something told him that he had known not only the name, but the person attached to it as well.

He continued to meet Natalie by the fence nearly every other day for the next two weeks. She told him any news that she could which he was grateful for but he especially liked when she told him about her life before her family had moved to Lodlin. It was very bittersweet for him to hear about the outside world, knowing what he had then and what it had done to him.

One day, during one such talk, Natalie asked, "Keith, you don't have to answer this next question if you don't want to but do your parents live with you in the compound?"

Keith hesitated. He couldn't blame her for being curious about them since he was aware that he hadn't mentioned them at all during their talks. And she had already given him so much already that he knew she deserved the truth, so he replied softly. "No, they don't."

"Do they live somewhere on the outside then?"

"No, they're…they're dead."

He saw her mouth open in shock. "Oh, god, Keith, I'm so—"

"Don't you apologize, partner," he snapped, cutting her off. "You didn't do anything wrong. In fact, you're the only one whose done somethin' right throughout this whole thing. I don't need your sympathy anyway, they're dead and apologizing won't bring them back!" He finished with finality as he looked down at his lap.

Neither of them spoke for several long seconds after that before Natalie said quietly. "Will you tell me about them…someday?"

"Someday," Keith promised, surprising himself. "Someday I'll tell you everything."

It rained the next time they were supposed to meet, so after he returned soaking wet to his apartment after work, he lay on his bed and thought about all of the news that Natalie given him and further pondered how he knew the name Toby Scholl. He had just begun to drift off to sleep when a light bulb went on in his head and he sat straight up in bed as he realized how he knew Toby Scholl.

* * *

Keith flew across the compound towards the fence the next day. He couldn't wait to Natalie how he knew Toby even though he knew it would lead to more questions from her concerning his past and his parents.

But his excitement evaporated when he saw that she was not alone at the fence and he quickly skidded to a halt and began to back away at the sight of a teenage boy who was sitting next to her. Seeing his wariness, Natalie stood up and said gently, "Keith, it's all right. This is my brother, Zach, he wanted to meet you."

"Why?" he demanded instantly as he glanced at Zach who was staring at him like he was some type of exhibit which Keith didn't like at all.

"He's been wondering about where I go all the time and about you and the others who live in the compound," Natalie explained. "So, I told him everything that you've told me about the Plague and what our dad's job really is."

"You shouldn't have done that, partner," said Keith angrily. "You're in enough trouble as it is coming here and talking to me."

"Hey, the last thing I'm gonna do is tell my dad about you," Zach cut in. "Natalie told me everything and I wanna help just as much as she does."

"Okay," Keith snapped, "you can start by not staring at me like some kind of animal!"

"Oh…right, sorry," said Zach and he blinked and looked away.

"Yeah, Zach," Natalie chastised. "You know it's rude to stare."

"Well, I'm sorry but I'm not used to seeing people living behind fences," Zach shot back. To Keith, he said, "You can come closer, I'm not gonna bite you or anything."

"I'm fine right here, thanks," Keith replied stiffly and he sat down right where he was standing, a good two feet away from where he usually sat and scowled at Zach. But his face softened when Natalie spoke up. "Keith, I'm sure it's hard for you to trust new people after all you've been through but please understand that you can trust Zach. He's just as upset about all of this as I am. It took me nearly two hours to convince him about what was really going on. But we_ really_ want to help, Keith and like Zach said, the last thing we're going to do is tell our dad about what we're doing." When she finished, she looked at him with such sincerity that he knew that she was telling the truth and as hard as it was for him to trust people, she was one of the few whom he could wholeheartedly.

Once this was established, they discussed ways of contacting the secret radio station or at least getting the word out about the compounds. Although Keith felt that none of their ideas would really work, he was just glad to be able to talk about them because with getting the word out came the chance of freedom.

And so he was sorry to see both of them go, including Zach as his cool demeanor towards him had melted as their conversation had gone on. As Zach began to walk back through the trees, Natalie stayed behind as if she wanted to say something to him in private.

"Go on, partner," he told her. "I'll be fine, don't worry."

She bit her lip and nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I know you will."

* * *

Keith couldn't help but smile as he made his way back to the compound after his talk with Natalie and her brother, Zach. He could see now that even though he lived in the compound, it all didn't seem so bad anymore now that they had promised to help him and maybe, eventually with their help, he and the others would be free.

The idea, the meager hope of freedom caused his smile to widen so much that he was sure that no one would be able wipe it off.

Until that is, someone did.

Out of nowhere, something collided with him from the side and pushed him to the ground so that he landed painfully on his shoulder. Stunned and confused, Keith rolled over onto his back and sat up a little just as the butt of a gun was rammed into his chest.

"Where the hell have you been?!" shouted a young yet angry voice from above. "Aren't you supposed to be at work?!"

"No…no, sir," Keith gasped as he clutched his chest. "I—I don't go till this afternoon."

"Good," snapped the solider whom Keith saw was around his age. "Now, get up! The Commander wants to see you."

Keith was going to ask why but figured that it wasn't worth any more damage to his anatomy so he got to his feet as quickly as he could and followed the soldier through the compound to Headquarters.

"The inmate, Keith Zetterstrom, Commander," the soldier announced ten minutes later when they were standing in the cramped office.

"Thank you, Lieutenant, please wait outside while I have a word with him," he replied without looking up from the manila folder that he was reading. It was only when the Lieutenant had shut the door behind him that he glanced up at Keith, closed the folder and got to his feet.

"I'm going to ask you once and only once to remain silent while I explain my reasons for calling you here," he began. "Understand?"

Keith nodded silently.

"Good." He paused and then continued. "According to your file, you have been here for one year and one month and during that time you have done all that has been asked of you and have not caused any trouble with guards except for formulating escape plans and talking back to a soldier. While those are not serious offenses, some of my men have informed me that during meal breaks at your place of employment, many of the other inmates seem to…flock around you and do not talk amongst themselves but listen to what you have to say." He paused then as if expecting Keith to tell him exactly what he was saying to the other inmates and when he did not, he continued conversationally, "These behaviors along with your actions of walking to the farthest edge of the compound for long periods of time, as observed by several men, are of a great concern for someone like me whose job is to keep people like you in their place. Since it is obvious that you are losing sight of what your place is and that you cannot just do what you like in the compound, I have decided that you will come work for me at my home so that I may keep a closer eye on you. Do you understand?"

"Yes, sir," said Keith, "but, sir, if I can explain, I wasn't planning on going through with any of those escape plans and—"

"Shut up!" snapped the Commander loudly. "I don't want to hear any of your excuses, you worthless rat! Now, report back here when you are finished working." Then, he looked down at his desk again and taking this as his cue, Keith left the office.

* * *

"You're _what_?!" Markus cried when Keith informed of his new job at the Commander's house, later at work. "Keith, he's gonna treat worse than we get treated here!"

"Maybe he will, maybe he won't," said Keith, "and besides it's not he's gonna be breathin' down my neck the whole time 'cause he's gonna be here all the time."

"Yeah, but still…" said Markus uneasily.

"I'll be fine, Mark, and maybe this way I'll get more news."

His friend brightened at this. "That would be great! You'll have to tell me what it's like there when you get back."

"Definitely," Keith assured him.

Although neither of them knew it then, it would be nearly a month before Keith set foot in Lodlin again.

* * *

Natalie's father was waiting for him when he returned to HQ at dusk. After a short drive (during which Keith tried to contain his excitement at the fact that he was riding in a car after so long) they arrived at large stone building that he knew was his new place of employment.

As they walked up to the house, Natalie's father said, "My family is at dinner now. You will wait outside until I come and get you, understand?"

"Yes, sir."

When they entered, they were met by a woman dressed in a maid's uniform who handed Keith a shirt that was exactly like the one he was wearing except there was no orange armband. He took it as Natalie's father headed further into the house and to a set of closed doors and entered the room behind them.

When they were alone, the woman said, "My name is Maria and the shirt is the family doesn't see your armband and start asking questions."

"I'm Keith," he replied, "and thanks."

He waited until she had left before he took off his shirt and put the new one on and then he leaned against the wall and waited for whatever was going to happen next.

The Commander returned for him nearly half an hour later and as he led him into the room, hissed at him. "Do not speak unless I tell you to."

Keith gave a tiny nod of acknowledgement and then they were inside the dining room.

It was a large room that was mostly taken up by the dining table where Natalie, Zach, their mother and a little girl of about ten were sitting and now staring at him. Natalie and Zach had looks of both shock and surprise on their faces while their little sister was staring curiously at him as was her mother.

"Caroline," said the Commander, "this is the boy that I told you about several weeks ago, the troublemaker, remember?"

"Oh, yes, I remember," she answered. "He certainly doesn't look as dangerous as you made him out to be."

"_Mom_!" cried Natalie instantly. "Why the hell would you think that?!"

"Well, since your father is in charge of…people like him, I assumed that he was…well, not right somehow."

"Yes, well, he has lost of his place under my employment and so I have decided to bring him to work around the house for a time so that you all can help me keep a better eye on him," said the Commander. "I wanted to introduce you to him so that you are not alarmed by the sight of strange boy around the house."

A short silence followed this little explanation and Natalie's father had just grabbed Keith by the back of his shirt to pull him out of the room when the Lieutenant who fetched Keith earlier that day appeared through a door opposite them, saying something about wanting to tell the Commander something but stopped when he caught sight of Keith and promptly demanded. "What is _he_ doing here?!"

"He has come to work for me, Lieutenant Marques," he replied calmly. "After all of the reports I have had about him, I figured it was time to show his place as I have just finished explaining to my family."

"You want a ra—er, someone like him working in your house?!" cried the Lieutenant.

"Yes, Lieutenant and while I am at work, I expect you to report back to me on his work ethic."

Here, the Lieutenant's face twisted itself into a delighted smile, one that instantly made Keith very nervous. "Of course, Commander, I shall be happy to do that." As he spoke he looked at Keith coldly. "And don't expect me to leave anything out, rat so you'd better be on your best behavior." He glared at Keith so intently that he instinctively reached his hand into his pocket to feel the calming smoothness of Natalie's ribbon.

And he realized that it was a bad decision right after he had done it.

The Lieutenant could plainly see his hand go into his pocket and so grabbed hold of his elbow and demanded, "What's in your pocket, rat?"

Keith knew it was no good lying so he took his hand out and showed him the ribbon.

As soon as he had done so, the Commander snatched it out of his hand and snarled. "Where did get this, boy?! This is my daughter's!"

"I—I found it, sir," said Keith, "I just f-found it in the—"

He never finished as he was cut off by a sharp slap across the face from the Commander's hand. It was so sudden and hard that Keith feel against the wall, his eyes watering with tears of pain. Yet he didn't have time to recover as the Lieutenant grabbed him by his shirt and hauled him out of the room.

When they were out in the foyer again, he threw him to the floor and Keith braced himself for another beating only to have the Commander demand angrily. "Did you steal this ribbon, boy?!"

Keith shook his head vigorously. "No, I swear I didn't! Please, I just found in the woods!" His pleas fell on deaf ears as the Lieutenant slapped him again. "Answer the question, you little bastard!"

Keith was nearly tears at this point. He knew it was a weak thing to do but he couldn't help it. They were taking away the one thing that had given him some hope and comfort over the past few weeks. They were punishing for a crime he didn't commit and flashbacks of his previous beating filled his head and he prayed that this would not be a repeat of that horrible incident.

And then, in a way his prayers were answered.

"Raff, stop it!" Natalie's angry shout filled the room. "He didn't steal it from me; stop hurting him!"

The stiff leather in the Lieutenant's uniform crackled as he stood up while Keith breathed a sigh of relief.

"Natalie, what do you mean? If he didn't steal it, how did he get it?" he asked.

"Exactly how he said he did," she replied firmly. "He found it in the woods. I was hiking one day and I lost it somehow and he must have found it. Really, it's a stupid hair ribbon. You don't need to smack the shit out of him." She glared at Raff for several seconds before turning to her father. "Seriously, Dad, chill out. It's a damn ribbon, no need to have a frickin' conniption."

"Natalie, you don't understand---" he began but she had already turned away from him to crouch down in front of Keith and gently help him to his feet.

When they were both standing, Natalie grabbed the ribbon out of her father's hand and handed it to Keith, saying. "Here, you need this more than I do." She gave him a small smile before she looked daggers at the other two and then walked calmly away.

**Author's Note: How's that for an intense ending? Hope you enjoyed it and the next chapter will contain Natalie telling Zach about Keith and the compound. Please review!**


	12. A Perfectly Reasonable Lie

**Author's Note: All right, so this chapter contains as I said last time, Natalie telling Zach about Keith and it's basically from that up until Keith's arrival at her house. The last part of the chapter, I actually hadn't planned and it just kind of came to me, so I hope you like it and the rest of the chapter and please review!**

Chapter 12

A Perfectly Reasonable Lie

Going to see Keith at the fence became the highlight of the week for Natalie. If she could, she would go see him every day and bring him all the food that she could carry. She hated seeing him so unnaturally thin and watching him eat the food that she brought so ravenously, knowing fully well that it was not something that a teenage boy should have to do.

The next two weeks passed without anyone questioning her all day hikes that she took every so often. It wasn't until she woke up on the day of her next visit and found that it was raining, that someone began to question where she went every week.

At a loss as to what to do, she tried to finish one of her more interesting books to try and take her mind off of Keith and what he could be doing in the compound on such a dreary day when Cynthia walked into her room and whined. "I'm bored! Why does it have to rain today?! It makes everything so boring!"

"It hasn't rained awhile so it's probably a good thing," said Natalie without looking up.

"Yeah, but I still hate it!"

"So I do," Natalie said, laying her book aside as she figured that her sister was not going to leave her alone until she paid attention to her, "because now I won't be able to visit Keith and I'm sure he misses me."

The words were out of her mouth before she could even think about what she was saying and by the time she realized what its no doubt disastrous results would be, it was too late and Cynthia inquired curiously, "Who's Keith?"

"He's, um he's my friend," Natalie told her.

"Really? Where does he live?"

"Well, he lives…he lives behind a fence in my head because I made him up."

"Like an imaginary friend?"

"Yup, exactly like that but I can only talk to him at certain times."

"How come?"

"Because, um because he doesn't like to talk a lot. He's a little shy." Natalie couldn't help but smile at her ability to hide the truth so cleverly and altogether it seemed like a perfectly reasonable lie.

Cynthia nodded in understanding and opened her mouth to ask more when Zach appeared in the doorway saying, "There you guys are! Mom wants some help with lunch."

"Yay, food!" cried Cynthia and she hurried out of the room but when she reached the door, she stopped, looked back at Natalie and said, "Will you introduce me to Keith sometime, Natalie?"

"Er…sure," she said, noting Zach's questioning look.

"Good!" said Cynthia and then she disappeared down the hall. When she was gone, Zach promptly turned to Natalie and asked, "Who's Keith?"

"Well, I told Cynthia that he was someone I made up to help pass the time but he's not made up, he's very real," Natalie told him as she sat down on her bed.

"Where does he live?"

Natalie hesitated. She knew she was taking a big risk in telling Zach about Keith and his horrible life in the compound but on the hand, it would be good to have someone share the secret with and maybe he could help Keith in the process like she wanted to.

But to make sure that Zach was the only one who heard what she was going to tell him, she got up again and made sure that they were completely alone on the second floor before she returned to her room and locked her door behind her.

"Okay," she began, sitting down on her bed once more, "what I'm going to tell you is what Keith told me and I'm not even supposed to know about it, so_ nothing_ that we say will leave this room, okay?"

"Okay," said Zach and Natalie could see the curiosity yet also the seriousness in his face. So she took a deep breath and asked, "Remember those people we saw when we first moved here? The ones in gray?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Well, Keith's one of them."

"He_ is_?!"

"Yeah."

"So, what is it that he lives in? Is it really a farm like Cynthia thought?"

Here, Natalie laughed dryly. "No, Zach, it's about as far from a farm as you can get."

Then, she launched into the story of the Plague and the real cure for it that had been the quarantine compounds. She tried to explain Keith's reason for being there as best as she could but Zach's eyes had grown so wide by the end of her story that she was sure they would pop out of his head. She was sure that this was exactly how she had looked when Keith had first told her everything.

It took her nearly an hour to explain everything and then another one to explain how their dad was involved in it all and how he had basically lied to them their entire lives.

When she finished, her throat hurt terribly but she didn't care as she waited for Zach's reaction. The seconds ticked by and when he didn't say anything, she added, "It's the truth, Zach. I've told you everything that Keith told me. God, you should've seen him when I first met him. He had this bruise on his cheek where a solider hit when a riding crop and whenever I bring him food, he eats it so fast and doesn't even stop to chew it 'cause he's so hungry all the time and—"

"I want to meet him," Zach cut in. "I believe you, Natalie, I really do but I still want to meet him and I want to help."

"Really?"

"Really. When you go see him the next time, take me with you."

And that was exactly what they did.

* * *

Zach was silent as they walked back through the woods after their meeting with Keith. His face looked deep in thought so it was clear that he was thinking hard about what had just occurred but as to his feelings about it, Natalie could only guess.

Finally, he said, "Sorry I stared at him, I just couldn't help it. I mean, with everything that you told me about him and then seeing it in person…"

"It's all right," said Natalie, "yeah, it was rude and everything but it was only natural for you to stare at him, like you said."

"I know but, I mean, he's our age and he's caged up like some type of animal! Doesn't Dad see how wrong and twisted that is?" he asked.

"No, because Dad thinks it's right and he's doing society a favor."

"He sure as hell isn't doing_ Keith_ a favor; he's killing that's what he's doing."

"I know," said Natalie, shaking her head. "I just can't believe it."

"I do," said Zach firmly, "after seeing Keith like that. God, it makes me want to go and shake some sense into Dad right now! I mean it, Nat, I could seriously punch him right now!" he ended angrily.

"Zach, calm down, we can't just start attacking Dad or anyone else. We have to keep this all to ourselves and figure out what we can do in secret."

Yeah, yeah, okay," Zach sighed heavily. "I just wish I hadn't been so _stupid_ all these years, not knowing and all, even though we weren't supposed to."

_Me too, Zach_, Natalie thought to herself. _Me too._

* * *

Now it was that evening, after she had rescued Keith from being beaten to death over her stupid hair ribbon. After she had returned her ribbon to him, she went back into the dining room where she promptly folded her arms and rested her head on top of them.

"Natalie," said her mom gently, "there's no need to feel sorry for that boy, he deserved what he got even if he just happened to find your ribbon, it still wasn't his to keep."

"Oh, _shut up_, Mom!" Natalie snapped without looking up. "It's a fucking ribbon, I don't give a damn about it. But I _do_ give a damn if someone has to suffer because it," she added as she raised her head. But before her mom could reply, her dad entered the room whereupon Natalie demanded, "Where is he? What did you do him?"

"Nothing and he's in garden shed where he will stay while he works here since I see no reason to escort him back to…where he lives every night," he replied. "Really, Natalie, why are you so concerned about him? He means nothing to you."

_He means_ everything _to me!_ She wanted to scream at him but instead replied calmly. "Well, maybe because I just rescued him from getting the shit beat out of him for no reason at all and I wanted to make sure that you didn't start hitting again once my back was turned."

Here, her dad sighed heavily. "Natalie, I know this is hard for you to understand but you really shouldn't be concerned about him like you are. It was necessary to…punish him like I did in order for him to see what he did was wrong."

_But he didn't do anything wrong!_ She yelled at him in her head. Out loud she said, "Okay, well I don't agree with it but I get what you're saying, Dad." Here she offered him a wan smile. "Don't worry, I'll try not to think about him too much anymore."

"Good, I'm glad," he replied.

"I think I'm gonna head up to my room and just read for a bit," said Natalie as she got to her feet.

"Okay, honey, we'll be up in a little bit," said her mom as Natalie left the room.

* * *

If someone looked out the doorway of their dining room, they would not be able to see the front door or stairs unless they walked completely out of the room and into the hall. And so once Natalie was near the front door, she quietly opened the hall closet, located a flashlight and then slipped out into the night. From there, she turned it on and hurried to the backyard where she found the small wooden shed where she knew Keith would be.

She slowed to a walk as she neared it, turning off the flashlight as she did so. Then she opened the door slowly and called out softly. "Keith? It's me."

There was a soft crunching sound as he got to his feet and Natalie turned on the flashlight again and shined it on the ceiling so the light would shine throughout the entire shed, small as it was.

He was standing near the back, behind some stacked bags that look like they contained fertilizer. The light from the flashlight fell on his face, making his green eyes seem to glitter yet his face looked washed out and paler than usual. The shed was so crammed with garden supplies and other tools that Natalie had to wonder how he, her dad and Raff had all gotten inside. Keeping the light in place, she walked further into the shed and closed the door with her other hand.

"I—I just came to see if you were okay and don't say that it was dangerous and stupid, I made sure my dad didn't see me leave and besides, I was worried about you," she told him.

"You were…worried about me?" he asked, shocked.

"Of course, I was Keith, I had to watch my dad nearly beat you to death!"

"I've had worse beatings, partner."

"So what?" she snapped. "It's all the same to me and it's still wrong."

"I know but it's just a part of my life."

"I wish it didn't have to be, Keith, and it shouldn't be," she said, her voice softening. She maneuvered her way over to him as quickly as she could. He stepped out from behind the fertilizer so then they were able to stand face to face…with nothing in between them.

"Hey, Keith, there's no fence between us this time," said Natalie with a smile. "There's nothing separating us."

A wan smile crossed his lips. "Yeah, that's true, partner. Feels kinda weird, actually."

"No, I think it's great," said Natalie and before she could think about what she was doing, she threw her arms around his neck, flashlight and all. She just wanted to show him how much she cared about him and just talking to him wasn't enough.

She didn't really expect him to hug her back but she certainly wasn't expecting him to do what he did. She hadn't had her arms around him for more than a few seconds before he squirmed a little and then pushed her forcefully away from him, causing her to release him and step back.

"What the hell was that?!" he cried angrily. "Why the hell did you do that, partner?!"

"I'm sorry, Keith, I—I just…felt like it since with everything that's happened to you." She told him, trying to explain. "I really don't what made me do it, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…scare you or anything."

"Well, don't do it again!" he snapped.

"I won't, Keith, I'm sorry, I just wasn't thinking." She promised, then she made the mistake of reaching her hand forward to lay it on his shoulder in a comforting way but he instantly flinched away from her and scooted back behind the bags, crying. "Don't touch me! Don't ever touch me again 'cause every time someone touches me, it means they're gonna hurt me!"

"I would never hurt you, Keith."

"Well, too bad partner, 'cause you already did," he growled. "Now, leave me alone! And as far as my beating goes, I'm _fine_! Just…don't worry about me, okay?!"

"Okay, Keith, I won't," she said in a small voice. "Have a good sleep, them," she added as she turned away from him and made her way out of the shed.

And as she expected, there was no reply.

**Author's Note: So now there's some tension between them! I wonder why this is gonna play out? Hmm, well unfortunately for you all, you're just going to have to wait to find out! Hope you enjoyed the chapter nonetheless and please review!**


	13. Tires, Books and Bottles

**Author's Note: I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving and here's chapter 13! In this, you'll recognize a lot of scenes/lines from _The Boy in the Striped Pajamas_, especially the beginning part and the ending. Acciodanrad9 is probably the only one here who will get the middle part (or at least an idea of what will happen, thanks to my influence, hehe) so enjoy the chapter and please review!**

Chapter 13

Tires, Books and Bottles

When Keith woke up the next morning and found himself using a bag of fertilizer as a pillow, he was extremely confused and wondered why he wasn't lying on his bed in his apartment. Until he remembered his new job at the Andersons' and then the events of the night came flooding back to him: his punishment over 'stealing' Natalie's ribbon; how her dad and the Lieutenant had brought him to the shed where he now found himself and then how Natalie had visited him and had…hugged him.

Keith swallowed as he remembered his reaction to it and how he had yelled at her. He regretted it now since he realized that she had only been trying to comfort him, but comfort was something that he had not felt in so long that he wasn't sure how to respond to it when it was given to him. And it was true what he had said to her, whenever someone touched him it usually meant he was going to get hurt either physically or verbally and as such Keith had developed a sort of phobia of it.

He was jolted out of his thoughts by a sharp knock on the shed door. He got up quickly and then made his way through the piles of supplies as fast he could. When he finally reached the door and opened it, he found much to his relief neither the Lieutenant nor Natalie's father but the housekeeper, Maria.

"Good morning," she said kindly, "I brought you some breakfast." And she handed him a banana and two pieces of toast with some orange substance on them wrapped in a napkin.

"Oh…um, thank you," said Keith as he took the food, feeling very shy.

"You're welcome, and that's marmalade on the toast," she added with a smile.

Keith had already taken a bite of one of the pieces of toast and nodded, "I don't remember ever having it before Lodlin but it's good." He tried to eat the food as slowly as he could to make it last longer but he was so hungry (as usual) that he ended up wolfing it down like he usually did.

When he was finished, he asked, "So, what's my job for today?"

"Well, I was going to have you help me in the garden but by the looks of this shed, I think it could use a good cleaning out and it would make it more comfortable for you," she replied.

"Okay, yeah, that…that sounds good," said Keith.

Maria smiled. "I'll be back around lunchtime, then." And she turned and walked back to the house.

It nearly took him until lunchtime just to get everything out of the shed. For all of the stuff that had accumulated in there, Keith had to wonder how many families had lived in the house before the Andersons' since surely not all of it was theirs. He had just finished hauling everything out when he heard footsteps and stood up instantly; thinking that it was Maria with lunch only to find that it was a ten-year-old girl whom Keith remembered from last night.

She stared at him incredulously as her mouth opened and closed several times until she finally spat out. "Can you help with something?"

"Um…sure," said Keith, "what do you need?"

"I want to make a tire swing, but my dad is at his job and my brother is being stupid and won't help me," she told him.

Keith smiled. "A tire swing, huh? Well, there's gotta be a spare tire somewhere in all this junk." He gestured around to the piles around him. The girl smiled and nodded as he began to search and in a few minutes found an old tire and some thick rope. Then, carrying the materials, the girl led him to a large tree that was towards the side of the house but still in the backyard. Once there, they devised of how to go about making the swing.

"Why don't you just attach one end of the rope to the tire and the end to the tree?" the girl suggested.

"Well, I could do that but I don't think that would make a very good swing," said Keith, "you'd fall off a lot."

"I would _not_!"

"Maybe you wouldn't but I've got a better idea." Keith said with a grin. Then, he fetched some spare nails and a hammer that he had found throughout his cleaning of the shed and set about building the tire swing. Nearly an hour later, he was finished and the swing was truly one of a kind as the rider could actually sit in the tire swing like a normal swing.

"Oh, wow!" cried the girl when he was finished. "That's so cool! Thank you _so _much!"

"You're welcome," said Keith as she clambered up onto it. "You have fun, I gotta get back to work."

"Okay! Thank you!" she called out as he walked away.

After that, Keith spent the next hour reorganizing the shed. He made himself a little nest to sleep in out of a tarp and some old cloth bags. He knew it was pretty pathetic compared to his bed in the compound, but he would take sleeping on the ground to going back to the compound again and he knew that he should enjoy his freedom, minimal as it was, while it lasted.

He was just walking out to retrieve the last few items and store them away when he looked up saw the girl stand up on her swing and lean forward at the same time. She was looking off into the distance and so was unaware of the danger she was in until (as Keith sensed what would happen) she lost her footing and fell off the swing, landing hard on the grass below.

When she didn't get up right away, Keith hurried over and crouched down next to her. She opened her eyes slowly and blinked furiously.

"You okay?" Keith asked.

"Ow," she moaned in reply. "My knee hurts."

Keith looked down at her legs and saw that one knee was bloody from where she had hit the ground. It probably looked worse than it was but it would need to be cleaned. He turned back to Natalie's sister and said, "C'mon, let's go inside and get that cleaned up." Then, he helped her stand up and kept an arm around her shoulders as she limped inside.

"Will I need to go to the hospital?" she asked as they entered the kitchen and she climbed up onto the center island.

Keith smiled. "No, it just looks worse than it is. Where does your mom keep the Band-Aids?"

"She keeps some in a drawer over there," she said, turning and pointing behind her. Keith went over, opened the drawer and found three boxes of variously sized Band-Aids and picked up all three of them since he didn't know how big the cut would be. Then, he snatched a paper towel from the roll on the counter, soaked it in water and crouched down in front of her and began to wipe away the excess blood and dirt.

As he worked, the little girl asked curiously, "What's your name?"

"Keith. What's yours?"

"Cynthia. Are you _sure_ I don't need to go to the hospital?"

"Yup, you won't even need stitches."

"But…but I might bleed to _death_!" she looked positively thrilled at the thought.

"No, you won't," Keith answered with a smile.

"What'll I tell my mom what happened?"

"I think she's gonna see it for herself."

"Maybe she'll take me to a doctor!"

"I don't think so," said Keith as he opened one of the larger, squarer Band-Aids.

"It could be worse than it is," said Cynthia stubbornly.

"It isn't."

"How would _you_ know? You're not a doctor; you just clean out the garden shed and other things that my dad tells you to do."

"A really good friend of mine was studying to be a doctor," Keith replied. "He told me everything that he was learning and so I learned a lot from him."

"Well, he couldn't have been much good then, if he was only studying," Cynthia mused, causing Keith to smile at her innocence. Neither of them spoke for several minutes while Keith cleaned up the Band-Aid wrappings and tossed them away. Then, Cynthia asked, "You said your name was Keith, right?"

"Uh-huh."

"Wow! That means you're Natalie's imaginary friend, but you're not imaginary at all!" she cried happily but then her smile vanished as quickly as it had appeared and she demanded. "Why does _she_ get to make a friend and I don't! I bet you've spent hours talking and not being bored while I'm stuck here with nothing to do," she said matter-of-factly.

"Yeah, but now you won't be bored because you have your tire swing," Keith reminded her as he leaned against the counter.

"Oh, yeah, that's right! So, is it nice there on the farm?" she added curiously.

"Farm?"

"Yeah, that's where you live, isn't it?" she said. "We can see people like you from Natalie's window and that you all live behind this really high fence. Is that to keep the animals from getting out?"

"Animals?" Keith repeated in disbelief. "It's used to keep _people _from getting out."

Cynthia opened her mouth to, no doubt ask what he meant when Natalie and her mother walked into the kitchen, carrying grocery bags. They both stopped at the sight of Cynthia and Keith, who instantly straightened up at their arrival.

"Cynthia, what happened?!" Natalie's mom cried, seeing her daughter's bandaged knee while Natalie laid the bags on the counter.

"I made a swing," she replied, "well, actually Keith made it for me and it's the best swing ever! But I fell off it and he put a Band-Aid on it and made it all better!" She announced happily.

Her mother studied the bandaged knee for a few moments as if analyzing Keith's work and then she said, firmly, "I think you should head up to your room, Cynthia."

"But I don't want—"

"Don't argue, go to your room!"

"Okay," Cynthia sighed and she got down off of the counter. When she reached the doorway of the kitchen, she turned around and said, "Thanks for fixing my knee, Keith!"

"Oh, um, you're welcome," he said nervously as her mother watched him intently.

After Cynthia left, Keith felt extremely awkward since he didn't know if Natalie's mom was going to give some sort of chore to do or if he could just slip back outside. But it appeared that she was blatantly ignoring him as she put away the food. Natalie, however kept glancing at him and looked as if she wanted to say something but didn't dare in front of her mother. Finally, unable to stand the awkwardness, Keith left the kitchen and went back to organizing the shed.

He was just walking out after he had put away the last of the supplies when he found Natalie standing outside, looking nervous and a little uncomfortable.

"That was really sweet of you to make Cynthia the swing," she began.

"Yeah, well, she asked and I'm the hired help after all," he replied.

"Listen, Keith, I just wanna apologize for last night," she continued quickly. "I mean, like I said, I just wasn't thinking and I really _was _worried about you. But I guess I should've known that a hug was probably the last thing you wanted at the time."

"There's no need to apologize, partner," he assured her. "I shouldn't have gotten so upset since you were only trying to make me feel better but I was still kinda on edge from…" he trailed off.

"Yeah, I know."

"But it is true about what I said about people touching me," he added. "It seems like whenever someone touches me, it means they're gonna hurt me."

Natalie only nodded in understanding and then said, "Well, I should get back before my mom sees me talking to you, but I'll see you around, Keith."

"See you, partner."

* * *

The next few days passed uneventfully after that. Keith was assigned different jobs around the yard and enjoyed watching Cynthia play on the swing that he had made her. Seeing how much she loved it made him feel truly appreciated for the first time in a long time. Whenever she noticed him watching her, she flashed him the largest of smiles and Keith would feel his heart warm inside.

One day after he had been working at the Andersons' for nearly two weeks, he woke up with a sore throat and panicked for a few seconds where he thought he was getting a cold. Until he realized that he didn't have any other cold symptoms, so he told himself that he would just keep an eye on it and if it got worse, he would somehow ask Natalie for help.

To his surprise, when Maria brought his breakfast, she informed him that the Commander had a special job for him.

"What is it?" Keith asked around a bite of orange. He was eating slower than usual as he found it very soothing to his throat.

"He wants you to organize his private library," she replied. "It's gotten into much disarray, he told me."

"Sounds easy enough," said Keith. He finished quickly after that and Maria led him inside the house.

He hadn't been inside since Cynthia's accident and even then he had only seen one room. So, he looked around curiously as he followed Maria beyond the kitchen and further into the house.

"Here we are, the Commander's office," she announced as she opened a thick wooden door and allowed him to enter first.

The office was larger than the one at Headquarters but not by much. Nevertheless, it contained three floor to ceiling bookshelves that were so crammed with books of various sizes that Keith had to wonder who had time to read them all.

"You're supposed to organize them alphabetically by subject and then title," Maria told him as he stared at the packed shelves. "I'll be back at lunchtime."

"Okay," said Keith. He waited until she had left and closed the door behind her before he sighed heavily and then got to work.

He started by pulling all of the books off the shelves. This took longer than he would've thought mainly because he could only carry so many at a time before he was out of breath. Since the books were the Commander's, he felt that he couldn't just drop some of the higher up ones without causing someone come to investigate and thus yell at him for possibly damaging them. Once the shelves were bare and Keith was feeling incredibly worn out, he sat on the floor and organized them into piles according to their subject just as Maria had told him to do.

As he expected, the books looked extremely dry with subjects such as politics, war, justice (here, Keith snorted in disgust) and history. Yet there were some books on epidemics and plagues as well as prison systems and crime and punishment.

It wasn't until he was sorting through the books that had been on the top shelves that he found one that made him stop his work and examine it.

It was very thick, well over six hundred pages with a completely black cover. It was the title, however that initially made Keith pause and stare at it, wondering what it could mean:

MEIN KAMPF

He opened the book to the cover page where he discovered that the title meant, _My Struggle_. Curious now, he flipped through the book and saw that many lines had been heavily underlined or bracketed. In some cases, nearly an entire chapter would be highlighted. Knowing that this meant that the book was very important to Natalie's father, Keith read through some of the underlined parts and as he did so, became steadily angrier and angrier. Particularly at the line:

_The stronger must dominate and not blend with the weaker, thus sacrificing his own greatness. Only the born weakling can see this as cruel. _

Usually, Keith could keep his emotions in check especially after a year at Lodlin but the fact that someone was calling him weak, and had been since his birth and because of that was unfit to 'blend' in with normal society. The simple quote brought back all of the memories of his life in the compound and before when he had been forced to hide in his own house. Memories of physical and emotional pain, loss and a drive to prove himself flooded him then and before he could rationally think about what he was doing, he violently ripped out the page containing the offensive quote as well as the five pages after it. Then, he threw _Mein Kampf _up to one of the highest shelves so he wouldn't have to look at it while he completed his task. He stuffed the torn pages into his pocket, why he didn't know, just so that he wouldn't have to look at them and be reminded of his apparent weakness.

Yet the insulting quote and its source eventually flew to the back of his mind as the day went on. After lunch, he helped Maria prepare dinner in the kitchen which was fine, until he was informed that he would be helping with dinner that evening.

"Why?" Keith asked instantly, his previous experience with the family dining room fresh in his mind.

"The Commander's parents are coming, so we need the extra help," Maria replied.

"Oh." Keith gulped.

He was on edge the rest of the day. He was sure that the Commander or the Lieutenant would do something to embarrass him or get him into trouble.

And to top it all off, his throat was getting worse.

* * *

By that evening, with his throat hurting terribly and the addition of a slight cough, his nerves were in a jumbled mess when Keith took his assigned place next to the wine table. His job was simply to make sure that everyone's glass was filled and that no one went too long with enough to drink. This seemed easy enough and Keith allowed himself to relax a little.

Not only were the Commander's parents at dinner that evening but also Lieutenant Marques, although thankfully he was sitting at the very end of the table, the farthest from Natalie was sitting in the middle on the right side between her siblings. Keith assured himself that as long as he did what he was told and didn't do anything suspicious, they would have no reason to hurt him.

The evening progressed smoothly after that. Natalie and her siblings looked steadily more and more bored as the adults talked of politics and current events. Keith attended to the drinks as he was told to and felt awkward and intrusive at first but this dissipated as the evening went on, especially when the Commander's mother smiled kindly at him. But he saw her smile vanish when she took in the sight of his abnormally thin fingers as he filled her glass. It was immediately after he removed his arm that held the wine bottle that she sighed and said, "You know, Peter, sometimes I think this is all my fault."

"What do you mean, Mom?" he asked as his children's head shot up in attention at this change of conversation.

"Well, making you those costumes for Halloween, how you loved dressing up! And you still do, apparently." She added coolly. "Tell me, Peter, does it make you feel special, that uniform? Knowing what you do when you wear it and what it stands for?"

As she finished, Keith glanced at Natalie and Zach to see that their faces were a mix of shock and worry while Cynthia looked very confused.

"Mom, I know very well what my uniform stands for," Natalie's dad replied calmly. "For the betterment of the world that we live in."

"Of course, dear, for the betterment of _some_ but not all," his mother said crisply.

Fortunately, before the tense conversation could form into a full fledged argument. Cynthia said, "I think Dad's uniform makes him look very handsome and I'm glad he wears it."

"Thank you, Cynthia," said her dad.

"You're welcome."

A tense silence followed this until the Lieutenant said in the direction of the Commander's mother. "I had disagreements about my career with my parents as well. My father was a professor of literature at a very prestigious university. He wanted me to go his university and continue my education but I was more of a hands on student and the life of a soldier suited me much better than the scholar."

"Really?" she asked, interested. "Does he still teach, your father?"

Here, the young Lieutenant's smile faded. "I don't really know actually, I haven't spoken to my father in a few years."

"And why is that?" the Commander asked instantly.

"He, um left the country."

"And when was this exactly?"

"About um, five or six years ago, I think," said the Lieutenant, clearly becoming nervous, something that Keith enjoyed seeing.

"Interesting, since he can't be any older than his mid forties, I expect," the Commander mused. "Where did he go?"

It was at this exact moment that Lieutenant took a bite of his food and everyone (including Keith who was doing everything he could to keep from smiling at seeing him become so ruffled) watched as he chewed, swallowed then replied. "I believe, England, sir."

"Really? Did he go there for his health?"

"Rather strange place to go if he did," cut in Natalie's grandfather. "The weather is so temperamental there."

"I don't really know, Commander, you'd have to ask him," the Lieutenant said.

"Well, that would be different with him being in England. Perhaps he had disagreements."

"Disagreements, Commander?" the Lieutenant inquired innocently.

"With government policy," the Commander clarified and then shouted at Keith. "More wine, boy!"

As Keith filled up his glass, the Commander's father said, "I've heard about such people. Disturbed, some of them but most are just plain cowards or even traitors."

Here, Keith glanced up and saw a vein twitch in the young man's neck and while this pleased him, it was short lived as he saw that his glass was nearly empty. As Keith made his way over to him, Natalie's father asked, "Yes, and if that is the case, you have informed your superiors of his situation?"

While everyone waited for a reply, Keith had reached the Lieutenant and was about to fill his glass when he suddenly felt the need to cough. As he turned his head to cough into his shoulder, he didn't see that it was causing to shake a little and it was just enough so that Keith could feel himself losing his grip on the bottle. When he turned back, he watched as if in slow motion, the bottle slipped from his hands and it smashed onto the floor, shattering into pieces as its contents soaked into the rug.

Before he could even react, the Lieutenant was on his feet in an instant and grabbed him around the chest so that he half pulled half dragged a stunned and shaking Keith out of the room.

**Author's Note: I hope you don't think I hate Keith or something since he's always getting beat up, but considering that Pete and Raff think he's basically the scum of the earth, its sadly very appropriate. And that italicized part is a direct quote from **_**Mein Kampf**_** which I found online, I haven't read it and nor do I plan to. Anyway, hope you liked the chapter and please review!**


	14. The Secret Room and the Sleeper

**Author's Note: Finally, I updated this story! I went to get this chapter out weeks ago but finals came and I was unbelievably stressed and then I went on vacation two days into break. I also wanted to finish A Speical Present before I updated this fic since, I'll be honest, it's my favorite of three (or now two) that I'm writing now.**

**So anyway, here's the next chapter and I'm sorry for the long wait! With Christmas basically being tomorrow, I have no idea when I'll update again but I hope you enjoy it and please review!**

Chapter 14

The Secret Room and the Sleeper

Unbeknownst to her family, Natalie had been staring at Keith as he walked over to Raff to fill his wine glass. While the rest of her family only saw him drop the bottle, she knew the reason behind was not his fault…as usually nothing ever was. That was why, when Raff leapt to his feet, she nearly jumped to her feet as well, knowing what was sure to follow.

But before she could even move to get up, Zach grabbed her wrist and gave a quick shake of his head and mouthed,_ Don't_.

_Why not?_ She mouthed back, shocked.

_It'll look too suspicious_.

Natalie knew he was right of course, but that didn't stop her from wanting to run out and pull Keith away from Raff. She glanced at her family to see their reactions and saw that her mother, sister and grandmother had all gone very pale while her father and grandfather acted as if nothing had happened and continued eating.

Raff and Keith did not return during the rest of dinner and once it was over, Zach signed to Natalie to follow him. He led her up to his room where she immediately demanded, "Zach, what the hell are you doing? We have to go and find Keith!"

"We will, don't worry but we have to wait until Mom and Dad are distracted and see where Raff is."

Natalie looked at him. "You mean, you think this time is gonna be worse than last time?"

"Natalie, come on! If you hadn't stopped them the last time, they would've ripped him apart and that was over a hair ribbon! If Raff hasn't killed him this time, then he's gonna be in pretty bad shape."

"Don't say that!" she cried as images of Keith lying dead in the dirt flashed before her eyes. "Please, Zach don't say that!"

"It's just a thought, Nat, I know it's not a good one but it _could_ happen." He put a comforting arm around her then and added softly, "We'll just wait a few more hours and then we'll go find him, okay."

"Okay," she whispered back.

The next few hours were the slowest hours of Natalie's life. She didn't know what to do with herself as she couldn't stop thinking about Keith and Raff might've done to him. Eventually when she was close to just walking out and looking for him no matter if her parents saw her, Zach poked his head into her room and said, "Let's go."

After grabbing flashlights and some First Aid supplies, they headed out to the backyard where they first checked the shed to see if Keith had managed to make it back there, but it was empty.

"That's not a good sign," said Zach gravely as he closed the door. "It means he's too injured to move."

Natalie was only half paying attention to him as she was racked with worry and she swept her flashlight over the yard, looking for Keith. Her thoughts were so jumbled with worry and concern for him that she almost missed him entirely when her flashlight beam flashed over something gray. Snapping to attention, she whisked her light back so that it shined brightly onto the object and she realized what it was.

Keith.

In seconds, she was on her knees and shaking him gently. "Keith! Keith, wake up!" she cried softly.

It was several tense seconds before she roused him enough for him to moan, "P—Partner?" By the light of her flashlight, she could see him looking blearily at her, his face etched with pain. At the sight of her, he tried to sit up but winced in pain, so Zach crouched down and helped him to sit up against the wall of the house.

The only injuries that Natalie could see on him were a bloody nose and a steadily blackening eye. Otherwise, he looked extremely pale and like he was going to fall asleep at any moment.

"Keith, do you hurt anywhere else?" she asked gently.

"Uh-huh," he groaned.

"Where?"

"Everywhere," was the pitiful reply. But despite this, he staggered to his feet and ignored Zach's hand of help saying, "Yean, I'm in pain but I can stand." As soon as he said this, however he swayed on his feet but caught himself against the side of the house and stayed there yet still remained as upright as he could.

"Keith, you're using the wall to prop yourself up," said Zach, "that's not my definition of standing."

Here, Keith forced a smile. "It's _leaning_. Leaning comes right before standing."

"It doesn't matter which one he's doing," said Natalie firmly. "We have to get him inside."

"Inside as in our house? Where the hell are we gonna put him without Mom or Dad finding him?" Zach asked.

Now it was Natalie's turn to smile. "I think we have a purpose for that secret room in the basement now."

* * *

How they managed to get Keith back into the house and down into the basement without waking anyone up, Natalie didn't know. All she knew was that Keith's life depended on them getting him somewhere safe so they could better tend to his injuries. Once they were all down in the basement, Natalie showed Keith to the secret room while Zach scurried about in the larger room, colleting a sleeping bag, blankets and a camping lantern.

While Zach gathered supplies, Natalie and Keith sat in the little secret room where she said, "Zach and I found this room when we first got here. You can't see it if you're standing in the main room 'cause it blends into the wall. You'll stay in here and recover from the beating Raff gave you and your cold."

"How'd you know about that?" Keith asked in a voice just an octave higher than a whisper.

"It was kind of obvious at dinner with your trying not to cough and you looked a little pale." Here, she placed her hand quickly on his forehead before he flinched away from her. "No fever, so that's good."

"My head and throat hurt," said Keith then.

"I can get you some medicine for that, but let's take a look at your more recent injuries," said Natalie gently. Neither of them moved or spoke after that, so she added a little tentatively, "You're going to have to take your shirt off, Keith."

"Oh," was the only reply.

"I can look away if you want."

"Yeah, but after I take it off, try not to stare, okay?"

"Okay, I'll try," she promised as she turned to face the wall so that her back was to him and she covered her eyes with her hand as well for good measure.

A few minutes later, Keith said, "Okay, partner, you can look now."

Praying that he wouldn't be all skin and bones, Natalie slowly got to her feet and turned around. What she saw made her clamp down onto her bottom lip to prevent herself from gasping out loud.

Keith stood in the middle of the tiny room, shivering slightly and looking anywhere but directly at her. He had crossed his arms over his chest as if to cover himself up, but it didn't keep her from seeing the havoc that his life in the compound had wreaked on his body.

He wasn't exactly a walking skeleton…but he was pretty close. His collar bone protruded almost painfully out of his skin while she could clearly count most of his ribs. The stark white of his skin also contrasted the harsh purple bruises that had begun to form on his torso, no doubt inflicted by Raff. His arms still retained some muscle and shape but even they were dwindling down to branch like thinness. Looking at his malnourished body, Natalie had to wonder how he had survived as long as he had and she was fully able to take in the extent of her father's so called 'job'.

And it made her sick.

Who could not look at Keith and only see something that must be disposed of? What had he done wrong to deserve to die so slowly and painfully? And what the hell gave people like _her own father_ the right to decide that someone like Keith was to suffer so much?

She knew the answer, of course.

Absolutely nothing.

While Natalie blatantly stared with such angry thoughts swirling around in her head, Keith kept his gaze fixed on the ceiling. The uncomfortable silence between them was only broken when Zach breathed from the doorway, "Jesus."

"I knew this was a bad idea!" Keith cried then, making Natalie jump and he picked up his shirt from the floor. "Have you gotten a good look now at the skeleton boy?!" he snapped at Natalie. "You said you wouldn't stare!"

"Keith, I'm sorry but—," she began, when Zach swiftly cut her off and said, "It's not every day we see someone whose basically nothing but skin and bones."

"And that gives you permission to start at them like some sort of freak?!" Keith shot back. "Because that makes me feel a _whole_ lot better!"

"Of course it doesn't give us permission to stare, Keith and we're sorry for doing but seeing you like this, it's just so…wrong and cruel."

"Damn right it is," he grumbled.

"And because it's so wrong and cruel, we have a responsibility to make it right," Natalie continued firmly. "Starting with healing your injuries and making sure your cold doesn't get any worse." With that, she grabbed the sleeping bag from Zach and began unrolling it. While she worked, she instructed. "Zach, go up to your room and get some of your old clothes for him to wear. That dirty uniform probably isn't helping him get any better…and besides, I hate seeing him in it." She heard Zach leave without a word and once she had unrolled the sleeping bag, she started tending to Keith's bloodied nose and some other smaller abrasions on his arms.

"I'm surprised you aren't more injured than you are," she commented after awhile. "Although some of those bruise look pretty nasty."

"Yeah, he knocked me around a bit and then yelled at me the rest of the time," Keith said, "but not until he almost knocked the wind out of me. That's why I didn't come back inside…and I figured I'd overstayed my welcome." He added softly.

Natalie only nodded in reply as she finished cleaning one of his cuts and then sat back on her heels whereupon Keith asked, "Why you doing all of this for me? You're gonna get in a lot of trouble if your dad finds out."

"I don't give a damn if my dad finds out and I'm doing this because, it's the least I can do. Up until now, my life was a complete lie and you were the first person who was brave enough to tell me the truth," she told him sincerely. She paused and the added, tentatively, "And to tell you the truth, Keith, I think I'm—"

"Don't," he interrupted curtly.

"What?"

"Don't say that you love me or that you're starting to fall in love with me. You _can't_ love me."

"And why's that?"

"Because…because it'll only make things worse."

* * *

Natalie stepped out into the main basement while Keith changed into the clothes that Zach had brought him. When she entered again, she found him already tucked into the sleeping bag and looked completely exhausted.

"I gave him some Tylenol since it's stronger than some of the other stuff and it should fight off whatever he has before it gets any worse," said Zach on the other side of the sleeping bag.

"Good idea," said Natalie. Then, she looked down at Keith and brushed a few strands of his hair out of his eyes as she said, "Get some sleep, Keith, you're safe here. Nobody knows about this room besides Zach and I. We'll come back in the morning with breakfast, okay?"

"Okay," he mumbled sleepily as his eyes began to close. But before they did, Natalie bent over him so that her nose was almost touching his. "And don't say that I can't love you. That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard and besides it's already started to happen. Good night, partner."

Then, without even seeing what his reaction might be, Natalie got up and walked out of the room, Zach right behind her.

They returned in the morning just like they said they would, laden with healthy, cold fighting food for Keith. But when they arrived, they found Keith still curled inside the sleeping bag, apparently still asleep.

Unperturbed by this, since he did have an eventful night, Natalie set down her food and shook him gently. "Keith? Keith, wake up. We've got breakfast for you."

He didn't move or make any sign whatsoever that he had heard her.

Concerned now, Natalie shook him harder. "Keith, wake up!"

Nothing happened.

Before full panic could fully set in, Zach said, "Natalie, he's still breathing."

"What?"

"He's still breathing, and it sounds normal too."

"Then, why the hell isn't he waking up!" she wailed.

"Natalie, c'mon, he probably hasn't had a decent sleep in a long time, plus he's sick and what was the one thing you wanted to do when you got sick?"

"Sleep."

"Exactly."

"But I always woke up in the morning!"

"Yeah, but Keith's situation is a little different. Look, his breathing is normal and he doesn't have a fever. So, let's just let him sleep and we'll check on him from once and awhile, alright?"

"Do you think he'll wake up later today?"

"Well, he's bound to want food eventually, that is if he doesn't already and is too tired to wake up for it."

"Okay…we'll just wait for him to wake up, I guess," Natalie said with a sigh,

But Keith did not wake up.

Until nearly two days later.

* * *

During that time, Natalie was a nervous wreck with worry. She had never known anyone to sleep longer than half a day and it was all that she could do it keep from checking on him nearly every hour and making sure that he was still breathing. Whenever Zach checked on him, she would linger but the basement door, nearly jumping up and down anxiously, wondering if Keith had died. But every time, Zach would appear and nod his head, signaling that Keith was, amazingly still alive.

It was a sheer miracle that her parents didn't become suspicious, although whenever Natalie could feel her anxiety and worry nearing a breaking point, she would take a long hike through the woods to clear her head. It was only on these hikes that she was able to focus, not on Keith's current condition but how much he meant to her as both a friend and as someone had changed her life completely. What she had said to him when they had first brought him into the basement was true: since he had changed her life, it was only her duty to change his as much as she could.

When he finally woke up from his deep slumber, she was by his side, willing him to wake up and be cured from his cold. And when she saw his green eyes suddenly shining up at her, she thought she was just imagining it. Until that is, Keith gave her a wan smile and croaked, "Can I have somethin' to eat?"

**Author's Note: I hope Keith's illness didn't seem too rushed but I really wanted to get this chapter uploaded and plus, it's not like he can go through chemo or anything. He's also, I'm sorry to say, going to have some more bad stuff happen to him later on. **

**Hope you enjoyed the chapter and that it was long enough after such a lapse in updating! Please review and Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays everyone! **


	15. How It All Began

**Author's Note: I hope everyone had a good holiday season and I cannot believe that it is 2010 and a completely new decade! Well, here is the next chapter of **_**The Color Yellow**_** which explains how Keith came to the compound and his life beforehand. It is seriously the longest chapter I've written and I hope you enjoy and please review!**

**To avoid confusion, the part with Keith's past is all in italics.**

**Warning: this chapter contains violence and character death.**

Chapter 15

How It All Began

Keith was a little disoriented after he woke up and found himself in the basement of Natalie's house. For one thing, he was completely shocked to learn that he had slept for two entire days since he hadn't thought that such a thing was humanly possible. When Natalie asked how he felt, Keith replied, "I feel fine, why wouldn't I?"

"Because you've had a cold for the past few days. Does anything hurt?"

"No…except my stomach 'cause of hunger pains."

Here, she smiled. "Well, I have something that can help that." And she laid a bowl in his lap that was full to the brim of some steaming yellowish-brown substance. Keith had no idea what it was and looked up at his friend, questioningly.

"It's chicken broth," Natalie told him, "I was going to give you a full serving of the whole soup but I wasn't sure how much you would be able to handle it. So, this is just some of the broth."

"Oh, okay, thanks," said Keith and he picked up the spoon and cautiously began to eat.

It was hot but not enough to burn his tongue and Keith could really taste all of the flavors that had been in the original soup, compared to the watery cold soup that he got at the compound. It took all of his will power to eat it slowly and not drink it all down at once.

While he ate, Natalie asked, "Keith, do you remember anything before you woke up?"

"What like my life at the compound and Raff beating me? Of course, I do, I just can't believe that I slept for two whole days," he said.

"Good, well I guess it's not good to remember those kinds of things, but I was worried that you'd been sicker than Zach and I thought and you'd somehow lost your memory or something."

"No, unfortunately all of my memories are intact," said Keith bitterly. He ate another spoonful of spoon and then asked, "What's been going on while I was asleep? Have your parents suspected anything since I haven't been working around the house?"

To his relief, Natalie shook her head. "No, Raff told my dad that after he uh, punished you that he took you back to the compound since you were so, and I quote, incompetent."

Keith snorted in disgust. "_Of course_ he would say that."

"I know and in case you're wondering, my dad hasn't suspected anything that you're not really there. So, it looks we're safe for now."

"I'm never safe," said Keith with a touch of anger. "There's always the threat of getting beaten up or shot at or sent to the Lab."

"The Lab? What's that?" Natalie asked surprised.

Keith had been scowling down at his soup and now looked up at her with equal surprise. "You mean, I haven't told you about the Lab yet?"

"No, what is it?"

"Well, it's this place that's really far away," Keith began slowly. "I'm not exactly sure about what or where it is since we've been forbidden to ask about it, so everybody is really scared of it. But what I do is that each month a train comes and the soldiers raid the compound and take people who they know are too sick to work or have caused too much trouble. They're put on the train and…and they never come back." He finished softly but then added lightly, "But somebody must be lookin' out for me 'cause with everything that I've done, I should've been sent there a long time ago."

"Keith!" Natalie cried, shocked. "Don't talk like that, please! I don't what I'd do if you got sent away especially to God knows where!"

He looked down at his soup again and said, "Sorry, partner, I—I didn't mean to upset you but it's true. All of the shit I've caused, I should've been gone ages ago."

"It doesn't matter, Keith," he heard her say gently but did not look up. "What matter is, is that you're here now and you're going to stay in this room, safe and sound for the time being." Then, she squeezed his hand affectionately and left the room.

* * *

And for the next few days, Keith did exactly that. The monotony of his days in the little room was broken up by the arrival of either Zach or Natalie who brought him food. They were very small meals, but receiving three of them a day, felt like a feast to Keith. The best part about their visits, however was that they would stay and talk to him while he ate. He liked to hear about their lives in the outside world the most, even though it was the outside world that had forced him into the compound in the first place.

Yet with all of their help, the thought of getting caught always lingered in the back of his mind. It worried him so much that every time Natalie visited, the first thing out of his mouth was a question about whether her parents had suspected anything about him or his absence from the compound. And each time she would reply that neither had the slightest idea as to his whereabouts or that they even cared at all. His fears were lessened considerably when Natalie informed him that Raff had left his position under her father's employment.

"Did he _choose_ to go or did your dad make him?" Keith asked as a smile of delight grew on his face at the good news.

"Well, my dad told us that he had a choice to go but I knew he made him go after his comments about his dad," said Natalie. "So, you don't have to worry about him anymore."

"Yeah, I'm happy about that."

She smiled. "I bet you are."

After Keith had been hiding in the basement for two weeks, that he felt that he should do something for Natalie to thank her for all she had risked for him. But he had no idea as to what he could possibly do to show her his gratitude for giving him something to live for and not making him feel so worthless.

It was when Zach arrived with his dinner that evening that he finally had his idea all worked out to his satisfaction.

"Hey, Zach?" he said as he nibbled on the chicken leg that Zach had brought him.

"Yeah?"

"Do you think you could bring some stuff the next time you come?"

"Sure, what kind of stuff?"

Keith told him all of the materials that he needed and exactly where Zach would find the most essential one. When he finished, Zach's brow was furrowed in confusion and he asked, "What's all this for again?"

"It's for something that I want to make for Natalie, to show how much I appreciate everything that she's doing for me," He paused and then added hastily. "You can see it too since you're helping me."

Zach rolled his eyes. "There's no need to thank me, 'cause I just wanna do what's right." Then, he stood up and said, "I'll bring you the paint right now 'cause we have some left over from when we painted the basement."

"Awesome!" said Keith.

The next morning, Zach brought him the rest of his supplies whereupon Keith told him that Natalie was not allowed to bring him his food while he worked.

"She's gonna be really pissed, you know that?" Zach said when Keith told him this.

"Yeah, but it'll be worth it in the end, trust me."

"Okay, man, you're the boss."

"Thanks, Zach."

Once Zach left, Keith was a little surprised that he hadn't asked about the contents of _Mein Kampf_ since it was a very strange looking book with its all black cover. But he didn't let that bother him too much, as he set to work on his gift to Natalie.

The first thing he did was read sections of _Mein Kampf_ and anytime the words caused him to become even the slightest bit angry or upset, he ripped out the page and placed it on the floor next to the other crumpled pages from his pocket. Once he felt that he had enough pages for both practice and the final product, he threw the horrible book into a corner and then constructed a flimsy clothesline out of string and some tape. Then, he set one of the empty paint cans in front of him, placed a torn page on top, dipped a brush into the white paint and then smiling to himself, set to work.

* * *

That evening, after he had finished the dinner that Zach had brought him, Keith asked him to fetch Natalie so he could give her his gift. He returned five minutes later and when she entered the small room, she immediately threw her arms around him (obviously forgetting his reaction from the first time) and demanded. "Keith, what the hell have you been doing where I can't even come see you?!"

"This," he replied and handed her thirteen torn pages of _Mein Kampf_. The pages were loosely bound together with the string from the makeshift clothesline. Except that they didn't contain words from Hitler anymore. They were Keith's words now. He had painted over the original words with the white paint, erasing them forever and rewriting his own story on top of them. Natalie took it as if he was giving her the greatest treasure in the world.

"Keith," she breathed as she stared at it, "you made this for me?!"

"Well, you and Zach."

"You didn't have to."

"I wanted to, partner and I needed to because the original words on those pages didn't deserve to be published."

"I was just going to ask where you got the paper from."

"From this." And he showed her _Mein Kampf_ and quickly explained about how he had found it and what it was about. When he finished, he quickly added. "Don't ask me about it now. I want you to read the story that I wrote, the _better_ story."

"Do you want me to read it out loud?"

He shrugged. "If you want to."

"All right."

She sat up straighter and then began to read.

_**The Standover Man**_

_**A Small Story by Keith Zetterstrom**_

_All my life, I've been scared of men standing over me._

_I suppose my first standover man, or I guess, standover people were my parents. But they did not seem like standover people until the end._

_I did not meet anymore standover men until I got sick. Very sick. So sick that my life was in danger and I had to hide in my own house._

_I didn't sleep for the first days or so because I was scared of who would be standing over me when I woke. But it was always my parents or my friend and his father, who took care of me as best as they could._

_So, I didn't worry about standover men for a long tim._

_Until I woke and found soldiers standing over me. _

_They took me from my home to another place where there were more standover men who wanted me to feel small and powerless. _

_And despite my determination to never give into them, I began to feel this way. But only a little._

_That doesn't mean that my new life in this place full of standover men was easy. It was just the opposite. It was hard. It was cruel. It was fear._

_Until I met another standover man who unlike the others, stood over me from the other side of a fence. _

_And it made me realize, that the best standover man I could have ever met, wasn't really a man at all…_

When Natalie finished reading, she looked up at Keith with tears in her eyes. "Keith, that was _beautiful_!"

"No, it wasn't. It was sad."

"No, I mean, just how you wrote it and I love the pictures!" Above or below each sentence, he had a drawn an extremely childish picture of what he had written.

"And I loved the last line," Natalie added with a smile. "Thank you, Keith. This is one of the best presents I've ever gotten."

Keith rolled his eyes. "Now, you're just being nice."

"No! Really, it means a lot to me that you would go to so much trouble just to thank me for everything."

"Well, you're welcome, partner," said Keith, feeling a little embarrassed at her praise. "And I figured you'd like the last part and it's really true, you know."

Natalie only nodded and smiled as she stared down at the little book. None of them spoke for several minutes before Zach asked, tentatively.

"Do you think you could, um tell us more? I mean, about hiding in your house and your friend that helped you and all?"

"C'mon, Zach, I'm sure that's the last thing that he wants to remember right now," Natalie snapped. "He's done enough remembering just by making this book."

"No, it's okay, I can tell you more," said Keith. "It's not gonna be a nice story but I think you guys need to know since you're already in so deep."

"Keith, are you sure? You don't have to, if you don't want—" Natalie began but he cut her off and said, "No, partner. I want to. Like I said, you guys need to know." Then, he situated himself more comfortably on his sleeping bag, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, opened his eyes again and began his story.

* * *

"_Mom, stop pacing. You're making me nervous," said Keith as he watched his anxious mother walk around the tiny examination room._

"_I'm sorry, honey, but I'm just worried about what Dr. Scholl is going to say, aren't you?"_

"_Yeah, but not enough where I'm going to start hyperventilating over it. Seriously, Mom, calm down," Keith told her firmly from where he sat on the high, white table. _

_Surprisingly, she took his advice and sat down next to Keith's dad who said without looking from his paper."Whatever happens, Sandra, Keith's going to be just fine." _

_Before Keith's mom could reply, the door opened and Dr. Frank Scholl and his son, Toby stepped into the room._

"_Hello, everybody," said Frank kindly as he shook hands all around. "Henry, how's the business?"_

"_Going well, thank you. They've been very understanding about Keith's frequent illness."_

"_Really? That's surprising," Frank commented with a frown. But he made no further comments and sat down in the swivel chair next the small desk while his son hopped up onto the table beside Keith._

"_How's it goin', Keith?" he asked._

"_Pretty good, you?"_

"_Busy but good. Have you been sick since we last talked?"_

"_Nope, I feel fine, just a little more tired than usual."_

_Toby only nodded to this and then looked at his father who said, "Toby and I have reviewed Keith's blood work and bone sample and from what we discovered, we were able to make an accurate diagnosis."_

"_Which is?" Henry asked. _

"_I'm sorry to inform you, Henry but Keith has cancer," said Frank gravely._

_Keith felt his heart drop. He had heard about cancer and although he wasn't exactly sure what it was and what it did to a person's body. He knew it was bad. Really bad._

"_Oh, God!" Sandra gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. "They're going to take him!"_

"_Not if we can help it," said Toby confidently. "Right, Dad?"_

"_Right," answered his father. "Toby and I are going to do everything we can to make sure that Keith gets the treatment he needs. Thankfully, the cancer is in its early stages, so that is some good news at least."_

"_What do you suggest we do now?" Henry asked._

"_I suggest that, to ensure Keith's safety for the time ahead, that you make him, well disappear," Frank replied._

_When they got home that afternoon, Sandra immediately enveloped Keith in a back breaking hug. _

"_Mom!" Keith cried as she squeezed harder. "You're squishing me!"_

_She let go then and looked into his face. "I just can't believe this is happening to you, Keith. I want you to know that your dad and I are going to do whatever we can to keep you safe."_

"_I know, Mom," he replied soothingly. "I know."_

_Their only option, as Dr. Scholl had said, was to make Keith disappear or hide him. Over the next few days, Keith eavesdropped on many of his parents' conversations as to how and where he would be hidden._

"_I guess the good thing is, is that we don't know anyone who works for the government who would get suspicious because of his absence," Henry mused during one such conversation._

"_Absence? I thought Dr. Scholl said that he could still keep going to school?" Sandra asked._

"_He did, but he also said there are some days that Keith won't feel well because of the treatment so it was best if he just didn't go to school at all to avoid suspicion from that."_

"_Seems like a Catch-22 to me. Either way there's a chance for people to get suspicious," said Sandra with a slight note of contempt._

"_I know, but it's all we can do to make sure he isn't sent away. We'll have to hide him in the basement, I suppose," said Henry._

"_In the basement?! Henry! I'm not having my son feel like a prisoner in his own house!" _

"_It's the only option," said Henry firmly. "After all, where else can he go?"_

_From his post, just inside his bedroom, Keith couldn't agree more._

* * *

_They ended up hiding him in the back storage room, underneath the basement stairs behind a pile of junk. They made sure that there was a way to slip through the pile in order to reach Keith, without having to move everything out of the way each time. His mom made him a little bed out of a camping cot and some blankets. She also made sure that he had plenty to do during the day while they were at work. _

"_I'm sorry it has to be like this, honey," she said, as Keith situated himself in his new living space. "It feels so wrong to pretend that you don't live here anymore."_

"_No, I'm sorry, Mom," said Keith. "I'm sorry that I had to screw everything up by getting sick."_

"_Don't apologize for that. It's beyond your control," she replied._

_A few days later, both of the Scholls arrived to explain the kind of treatment (which was called chemotherapy) that they would be giving him and would it would entail, specifically the side effects. Toby's father warned them that there wasn't much of this form of medicine left since the government had confiscated most of it after they developed their 'cure' for the Plague. _

"_But," said Frank, reassuringly. "I'm determined to give Keith whatever amount that I can. Every little bit helps when it comes to fighting cancer." _

_And it did, at least from a medical perspective. From Keith's view as the patient, it was the worst thing he had ever experienced (up until then, anyway) not only did he have body aches afterwards but he also felt extremely tired or got sick to his stomach. Thankfully, this only happened ever so often when Frank or Toby would arrive twice a month to administer the medicine. _

_Keith's spirits lifted whenever Toby came to see him. Not that his father wasn't a kind and soothing man, but it was nice to talk to someone who was closer to his age and who could still live a semi-normal life, unlike himself. _

"_It's getting a little crazy out there," Toby said during one of his visits. "They've got this special police force whose only job is to look for people like you, who are in hiding. The tricky thing is they have to do it so that other 'normal' people don't start asking questions."_

"_You mean, it's all a secret? The sending people away thing?" Keith asked, shocked._

"_Yup. It's their idea of a wonderful cure," said Toby, voice dripping with sarcasm._

"_Bastards," said Keith bitterly._

"_Totally."_

_And so it went for an entire year. Keith would receive his treatment in hiding and both of the Scholls agreed that he was making excellent progress, even through the cancer had not gone away completely._

_It was thanks to the regular visits from the Scholls and daily visits from his parents, that Keith's new life in hiding was pretty manageable. Without them, he knew, he probably would've gone insane from sitting in the dark twenty four hours a day._

_By the time his sixteenth birthday arrived, Keith pleaded with his parents. "Please, can I go outside, just for a minute? I haven't been outside in a whole freakin' year and I'm feeling good today."_

"_Keith, you know that's not—", his dad began._

"_Please, Dad, just at night?! I'll go out for a minute. Please!" he begged._

"_Really, Henry, if they haven't caught him by now, they never will," said his mom. "At least let him look out the window, it's his birthday after all."_

_But his dad shook his head. "No, I'm not taking any chances."_

_And Keith, as upset as he was that he couldn't at least look out a window, knew it was for the best._

* * *

_A month later, Keith was awakened in the middle of the night by loud pounding, followed by a lot of shouting and protesting. Knowing that this could only mean one thing, Keith huddled himself into a corner, trying to make himself as small and as invisible as possible._

_Not minutes later, he heard footsteps thudding down the stairs into the basement and his heart pounded in his chest as he realized that those footsteps were defiantly not those of his parents or the Scholls._

_The storage room door banged open and the pile of junk that had concealed him was quickly demolished and when Keith looked up to see who had found him, he was blinded by the light of a flashlight shining in his face._

"_Ha! Found you, you little rat!" laughed a harsh voice in delight. "Get up and go out into the main room!" he ordered._

_Shaking with fear and worry, Keith scrambled to his feet and stumbled out into the main room of the basement. There, another harsh looking man dressed in a leather uniform, stood waiting for him, holding a rifle on his hip._

"_Thought you could hide forever, eh?" he sneered at the sight of Keith. _

"_Where are my parents?!" Keith demanded in reply. _

"_Shut up!" The other man snapped as he buried the barrel of his gun into Keith's back. "Move! Upstairs!"_

_Keith moved and they were upstairs in no time whereupon he saw two more men dressed the same as the other two, in army uniforms, waiting for them._

"_You've been a tricky person to find, Mr. Zetterstrom," one of them drawled when Keith was standing in front of him. "But, we find all of you Imperfects eventually. Just like we find you." He smiled wickedly then and Keith glared back as the gun in his back prodded him out the open front door._

_It was dark outside, but Keith could see clearly thanks to the headlights of a large truck that shone on his front yard. One solider sat behind the wheel of the truck while two more were restraining…his parents._

_Surprisingly, his captors led him directly to them and when he was close enough, his mother ran forward and hugged him tightly to her chest and whispered frantically, "I'm sorry, Keith, I'm so sorry. I love you, sweetheart, I love you so much." Then, before Keith could muster a reply, she was ripped out of his arms while a solider explained how they had committed a great crime in hiding him for so long and not reporting his long term illness sooner. Keith barely heard what he said, though as he kept his eyes locked on his parents, somehow knowing that it would be the last time that he would see them. While his mom sobbed silently, his dad remained impassive and stared at Keith as hard as he was staring at him and his eyes seemed to say_, Be brave, son. Don't let them get to you_._

I won't, Dad,_ Keith promised silently._ I won't.

_Then, all too soon, he was being dragged away from them, towards the truck. Any parting words that he could think of died in his throat as he saw one of the soldiers guarding his parents, raise his gun…_

_Keith didn't see what happened as that moment he was thrust into the back of the truck, but the two cracking gun shots that followed reverberated through his body as if he had been shot as well. He stumbled into the dark back of the truck where a pair of hands grabbed him gently helped him sit down. There, the shock of all that had happened overwhelmed him and he fell into a welcoming blackness._

* * *

_Keith was awakened by someone shaking him and whispering, "Time to get up, kid, we gotta move."_

_He sat up quickly and blinked at the sudden darkness and whoever it was that had woken him, helped him stand up and out of the truck. _

_It was still dark outside but there were enough lights on that Keith realized that they were at a train station and hundreds of soldiers like the ones who had found him, were loading people onto the awaiting train._

_But it certainly didn't look any train that Keith had seen before. The trains he had seen had windows and lights so one could see inside the cars but the cars on this train were dark and made of wood and it was then that Keith realized what the train really was._

_It was a cargo train, and its cargo was people like him._

_Minutes later, Keith was pressed against the wall of the car, just inside the door as the soldiers had packed so many people inside. Thankfully, the person who had helped in the truck was standing right next to him. _

"_Where are we going?" Keith whispered to him as the train chugged along the track._

"_To one of the compounds," his companion replied. "That's usually where they take everyone first, unless they're too sick when they find them. Then, they go straight to the Lab. My brother was a double agent in one of their police forces…and that's where he went and how I know all of this," he added._

"_Oh," Keith whispered back, not knowing what else to say. _

"_What's your name?" the other boy asked._

"_Keith."_

"_Mine's Andy, nice to meet you, Keith."_

"_You too."_

_Hours later, Keith felt the train begin to slow and then stop with a hiss of steam. Then, the doors opened and the soldiers ushered everyone out, yelling and pulling them if they were too slow. He and Andy were one of the first ones out, so they were able to take in their surroundings longer._

_Neither had no idea where they were but they were definitely somewhere in the country. Keith could only make out some low buildings, a chain link fence and off in the distance, the beams of guard towers._

_He couldn't stare for long as the soldiers shouted for them to move and the crowd marched forward into, according to what Andy had told him, the compound. _

_Yet they ended up going to two of the low buildings that were not far from the tracks. Here, one of the soldiers shouted for men and boys in left and girls and women in the right. Andy held tight to Keith's wrist as they walked into the building and when Keith tried to break away, he hissed, "No! We gotta stick together!"_

_The building's foyer area was surprisingly large and was lit by three naked light bulbs hanging from the ceiling. When everyone had crowded inside, a soldier ordered. "Take all of your clothes off and throw them in the bin!" Keith stripped down to his underwear and was about to follow Andy further into the building when he was smacked on the back of his head, so hard that he stumbled a little as a voice shouted. "All of your clothes, wretch!"_

_And so, feeling extremely embarrassed (even though he was sure later, that no one really looked or cared) Keith shakily pulled off his underwear and tossed it into the bin as directed. Then, covering himself with his hands, he followed the his other naked companions through the open doorway._

_They arrived at yet another large room where people dressed all in gray were handing out identical clothes to the arrivals. An older man handed Keith his clothes and as he hurriedly put them on the man asked, gruffly. "How old are you, boy?"_

"_Six—Sixteen," Keith stammered in surprise._

"_No, you're nineteen, got that?" The man growled. "When they ask, tell them you're nineteen. "What's your job?"_

"_Um…student?"_

"_No, don't say that! What do you like?"_

"_Um, I like cars…?"_

"_Good, tell them you're a mechanic. You understand, boy? You're nineteen and you're a mechanic. Now, go!" And he pushed Keith away._

_Through yet another door were two long lines, Keith got into the one the left and waited, unknowing for what was at the end. _

_As he drew closer, he saw two important looking men, each sitting behind a small desk with a third man, standing between them. He was holding a gun and it appeared that the men at the desks were asking the arrivals questions and depending on their answers, the solider in the middle would point his gun either to the right or to the left._

_The only question was, which one was better?_

_When it was Keith's turn at the desk, the man growled. "Name?"_

"_Keith Zetterstrom."_

"_Age?"_

"_Nineteen."_

"_Occupation?"_

"_Mechanic."_

"_Disease?"_

"_Cancer." _

_Heart pounded, Keith watched as the soldier in the middle pointed his gun to the left and the one at the desk threw an orange armband at him and ordered, "Put that on and go stand with the others!" _

_Keith did as he was told and joined the group of people who lined the wall. Some of them wore orange armbands like him and others didn't. They made room for him against the wall and together, they waited to hear their fate._

* * *

"It turned out that the people who got sent to the right were put back on the train and sent to the Lab," said Keith in the present in Natalie's basement. "After that, we were taken outside and assigned to an apartment building and then they left us to make sense of it all." He finished softly. Then he looked up at the frozen and shocked faces of Natalie and Zack and finished with a sigh. "And that's how I came to the compound."

**Author's Note: Phew! Can't say the chapter wasn't boring, can you? I hope you got a good sense what happened to Keith and that's why the chapter is so long. Anyway, hope you liked it and please review!**


	16. Something More

**Author's Note: Chapter 16 is where things start to turn for both Natalie and Keith, don't worry it's a good turn…for now. The title can have different meanings depending on how you read certain parts in the chapter. So, hope you like it and please review! Thanks for all of the great reviews on the last chapter even though it was so sad!**

Chapter 16

Something More

Natalie didn't move even after Keith had finished his story. She _couldn't_ move from the horror of it all. She couldn't believe all that he had been through and couldn't imagine such cruelty happening to someone…even though she was fully aware of it after witnessing him being 'punished'. His parents, she realized, were two of the bravest people she knew and she told him so. Whereupon, he shook his head vigorously. "No, partner, they were just doing what they had to do and doing what they had been doing since I was born."

"And what is that?" she asked.

"Taking care of me and making sure I was safe, no matter what."

Silence followed this statement and Natalie glanced at Zach to see, to her complete surprise, that his face was scrunched up and reddening in his determination to not cry in front of Keith. Directing her gaze back at Keith, she said, voice stepped in regret. "We should probably all get to bed, Keith. It's late."

He nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I guess so." He scooted off of his sleeping bag and proceeded to get into it. When he was in, Natalie crawled forward and said, "Thank you for telling us about your past, Keith."

He sighed. "You're welcome, partner. It was hard but like I said, you needed to know and understand."

"I'm not sure I understand everything but yes, I'm glad I know more now, thanks to you."

A small smile graced his lips then and before he had time to protest, Natalie bent forward and kissed him gently on the lips. When she pulled away and looked into his face, he was staring at her wide-eyed, utterly stunned. "That's called a kiss, Keith," she said jokingly when he didn't move after several seconds. Then, she began to crawl away from him to get to her feet when Keith's hand shot forward and grabbed her wrist tightly. Alarmed, she looked up at him and he whispered. "Can…can you stay for awhile? I—I'm scared that if I f-fall asleep, I'll have dreams about my parents and…and everything."

He was looking so pleadingly at her that Natalie knew she couldn't refuse (and neither did she want to) so she looked back at Zach who was standing at the door to the little room and said, "You go on up, I'll come up later." At his worried look, she added, "Don't worry, I'll make it up before morning. Go."

Very reluctantly, Zach turned and left the room, shutting the door securely behind him. When he was gone, Natalie scooted closer to Keith and took one of his hands in hers. "How's this, Keith?" she asked him quietly.

"Good," he replied. He was lying on his side, facing her. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome."

"Why did you kiss me?" He asked after a short silence.

She knew he wouldn't like the real answer, so she said, "I don't know. It just seemed like the right thing to do. I, er hope you didn't mind it."

"No….no, it was just kinda unexpected."

Neither of them spoke after that. Natalie was just starting to think that Keith was asleep and she should probably head up to bed as well, but she tried to get up and leave, she found that she couldn't.

Because his head was in her lap.

Natalie's heart melted then. Why did he have to do some many things that made her heart skip a beat? Why did he make her feel safe and calm her just by simply being with him, when really it should have been the other way around? She knew that Keith was convinced that they couldn't be more than friends with his current conditions, but Natalie didn't care. She was determined to do anything to help him, if only to show him that there was still some good in the world.

Not wanting to wake him since he seemed to be in a very deep sleep, she gently lifted his head out of her lap and then maneuvered him back into the sleeping bag. He didn't stir once and after she had made sure that he was well covered, she kissed him on the cheek, stood up and made her way back to her own room and to sleep.

* * *

"Natalie, we have to do something!"

"No, we don't, he's perfectly fine where he is."

"Yeah, but he won't always be."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that Dad's gonna get suspicious sometime."

"If he hasn't gotten suspicious already then he won't ever. Besides, Dad doesn't care if Keith lives or dies, but_ I _do."

This conversation was taking place in loud whispers in Zach's room between him and Natalie. It was now after breakfast and once he delivered Keith his, Zach had told her that he had wanted to talk to her up in his room.

"Natalie, I don't want him to die I was much as you do, but I think it would be best if—" Zach started to say only to have his sister snap back. "What? If he goes back to the compound? Hell, no! Especially after all we've done for him!" She paused for breath and then went on before her brother could interrupt. "Besides, there's something that we need Keith for if we really want to bring all of this to an end as much as we say we do."

"And what's that?" Zach asked.

Here, she smiled. "You'll see." Then, with Zach staring in confusion, she left his room.

The door to her dad's office was closed when she arrived, but this did not deter her in the slightest. She simply knocked politely on the door and then waited for several seconds and when no one answered, she opened the door and went in.

It was so neat and organized inside that it was easy to find the first thing that she was looking for: the clock radio was sitting on top of a filing cabinet behind his desk. The second thing, she knew would be a little trickier to find.

Ever since she had found out what her dad's job really entailed, Natalie had secretly suspected that the reason he had kept making excuses for getting a phone for her was because…he already had one. Being that he was in charge of so many people, both soldiers and inmates, Natalie concluded that there had to be some sort of way to communicate with the compound when he wasn't there and would be faster than holding a meeting. And the only way she could think of that he would be able to do this was by phone.

Since she had no idea how big the phone was, she decided to search the entire office. This was harder than it seemed, since she had to make sure to make a thorough search but not disturb too much so that her dad didn't suspect that someone had been snooping around in his office. After she had searched in all of the logical hiding places (and more) Natalie still hadn't found any type of phone whatsoever. She was about to give up and go visit Keith, when her gaze fell on the bookshelf.

She stepped forward and scanned the titles, remembering many of them from when Keith had told her about the time that he had found _Mein Kampf_. She was getting a little bored when she caught sight of a thick gray book, almost the size of a dictionary, sitting on the shelf second to the bottom. Feeling that somehow this book was important, Natalie crouched down and hauled it out with some difficulty since it was heavier than she had thought it would be.

When it was on the floor, she saw that it was called, _The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich_. Natalie knew that this was what Adolf Hitler who had written _Mein Kampf_ had called his reign, thanks to Keith. Curious, Natalie opened the book and her heart jumped into her throat.

Lying in the center of the book with a space cut out for it from the pages, was a phone.

It was the cordless kind and it was black. Flipping further into the book, Natalie found the charger and plug, nestled in their own cut out spaces. Smiling to herself, she closed it and replaced it back on the shelf. Then, she went to talk to Keith.

* * *

"You want me to do _what_?!" Keith exclaimed after Natalie had finished explaining her idea to him and Zach.

"I want you to write down the story that you told Zach and I about how you came to the compound," Natalie replied calmly. "Even more than that I want you to write down all of your experiences there, even the ones you don't want to remember." She handed him one of her notebooks and added. "I haven't written a lot in here so you can use this one."

Keith took it reluctantly, glowering at her as he did so. "I can't write good at all, partner." He said.

"Keith, you don't have to be the most amazing writer ever. In fact, it would be good if you wrote it how you usually would instead of trying to put big words in it or something. Then, people will get a better understand of who you are."

His head shot up at the word 'people'. "People?" he repeated, sounding worried. "What people?"

Natalie sighed. "Keith, weren't you listening to _anything_ that I just told you?...Never mind, don't answer that. I'm going to find the radio station where I heard Toby's interview and get their contact information."

"Why?" Keith asked.

"Dude, don't you get it?!" cried Zach. "She's gonna send them the stuff that you write and then someone on the outside is _gonna know about the compounds_!"

Keith stared at Zach for several seconds as he processed what he had said and finally swore softly. "Oh, shit."

" 'Oh, shit' is right!" Natalie laughed. "So, you'd better start writing, Keith."

Taking her words as his cue, Keith flipped open the notebook, grabbed the pen that Natalie had brought and began to write.

* * *

It took much persuading from both her and Zach to get Keith to come upstairs that night once her parents and Cynthia had gone to bed. He had stated that he trusted them to find the radio station and call in and that he wasn't needed, but Natalie wouldn't hear of it. Finally, she was able to convince him by hinting that maybe Toby would be a guest on the show again and he would be able to talk to him. Even though she had no idea if such a thing would happen, it worked because Keith (albeit cautiously) climbed the stairs.

The phone and radio were set up and waiting for them when they arrived in the office. Keith immediately got on the floor and scurried underneath the desk, hugging Natalie's notebook tightly to his chest. When she looked at him questioningly, he whispered. "I'm not taking any chances."

Zach sat on the other side of the desk as a sort of lookout in case anyone should come into the office unexpectedly. Natalie fiddled with the tuning button trying to find that station that she had listened to the last time. She was close to giving up when she heard "…Graf for WR.203 here!"

"This is it!" she hissed to Zach and Keith. She turned up the volume just enough so that they would be able to hear and then sat back and listened.

"As always our listeners are reminded that if they wish to call into our studio, the window to do so is very limited," the newscaster, Chris Graf cautioned. "But tonight we are widening that window because tonight we have some special guests with us this evening. Some of you may remember the young man that we interviewed several weeks ago; well he is back again tonight and this time with his father. Please welcome, Frank and his son, Toby Scholl to the studio!"

Natalie silently yelled in delight at their luck and whipped her head around to see Keith's reaction. His head was peering out from the side of the desk and his eyes gleamed with unshed tears and a watery smile was forming on his lips. Natalie squeezed his shoulder excitedly and then turned back to the radio to listen to the interview.

The interview was very similar to the one that Natalie had heard before except this time his father did most of the talking. But she knew that Keith and Zach were listening with rapt attention so she didn't interrupt by commenting on what she had heard the last time. Halfway through however, Chris gave out the station's phone number. Instantly Natalie snatched up the phone and began to dial whereupon Keith asked, "What are you doing, partner?"

"Calling the station, who do you think I was calling? Don't you want to talk to Toby and his dad?"

"Well…yeah, but what will I say?"

"Just tell them everything, Keith but ask where you can contact them."

He looked incredibly nervous. "O-Okay."

Finally her call went through and her heart hammered in her chest as she heard Chris say both in her ear that was pressed to the phone and on the radio. "Yes, our first caller! Who is this and who is your question for?"

"Um, hi this is Natalie and my question is for Toby."

"Shoot!" She heard him call out on the radio with a laugh.

"Would you like to talk to an old friend of yours?" she blurted out.

There was silence on the end.

Finally, Toby answered, sounding a little suspicious. "And which friend would that be?"

"Keith Zetterstrom," Natalie told him and as she did so, she glanced at Keith who looked like he was going to be throw up at any moment. He was even sweating a bit.

"Keith?" Toby repeated. The suspicion in his voice had vanished and was now replaced with surprise and excitement. "You know him? How is he? Where are you?"

"Why don't you ask him yourself?" Natalie replied with a grin and then she held the phone out to Keith. He took it as if it was the most precious gift in the world and put it to his ear and said softly. "Hey, Tobs, it's me."

"Jesus frickin' Christ," Toby swore. "Keith…I thought you were dead! How long has it been since we saw you?"

" 'Bout a year…maybe more."

"God, that seems like forever…so, how are you? Where are you?"

"I'm doing better than I was, thanks to Natalie and her brother," Keith told him, "and I'm at a compound, it's called Lodlin."

"Wait, then how are we talking right now?"

"It's a long story, Tobs."

"Tell me," he demanded. "Tell me everything."

So, Keith proceeded to give Toby a brief summary of how he had met Natalie, how her dad was in charge of Lodlin and how he was now able to talk to him on the phone. When he finished, he said, "Listen, there's more to it and I've started to write everything down, everything that's happened to me since I was found out. I just need an address to send it to you."

"Sure, Keith, it's," and he gave off an address that Natalie quickly scribbled onto a piece of paper that she had brought specifically for that purpose. When he finished, his father spoke up. "Keith, I know I'm not your father but I hope you and your friend realize the gravity of what you're going to be doing, by exposing the compounds."

"We're not sure what it's going to do, Dr. Scholl," Natalie answered then. "We just know that my brother, myself and Keith had to do something more to end all of this. No matter what."

"You definitely are," said Frank and Natalie could hear the smile in his voice, "and I wish you the best of luck."

"As much as I hate for this conversation to end, we are almost out of time," Chris Graf cut in then. "To our callers, Keith and Natalie wherever you may be, _thank you_ for having the courage to call in tonight."

"Great talking to you, Keith," Toby added.

"You too, Tobs," said Keith, "and it was really all Natalie's idea, Mr. Graf to call your station like this." Here he looked at her, his eyes shining with happiness as he added, "and I'm so glad she did."

* * *

After some final goodbyes and heartfelt thanks from Scholls, WR.203 dissolved into static once more. After she had put the phone back into its hiding place, Natalie got to her feet and looked around.

"Where'd Keith go?" she asked Zach, realizing that he wasn't in the office anymore.

"I dunno, I thought he was right next to you," said Zach."

"He was but…now he isn't."

"He probably went back to the basement."

"Yeah, probably."

They turned off the lights, after making sure that nothing was out of place and then closed the door behind them. Natalie then led the way to the basement where they did indeed find Keith waiting for them in the large, main room. She was surprised to find that he had been pacing nervously when she and Zach reached the bottom. When he spotted them, he stopped and clasped his hands behind his back as if he expected her to start scolding him for something.

"Keith, what's wrong? Why are you looking so nervous?" she asked, stepping forward.

"After, um after we finished talking to Toby and you and Zach were putting everything away, I—I went out to the front room," Keith answered nervously. "And, I—I looked out the window."

He had not seen the night sky—the night sky of the world beyond the compound—in two years.

"And what did you see?" Natalie asked softly, curiously.

By the light of the single light bulb that he had turned on, she saw him gulp. "There were stars," he replied in a voice just above a whisper. "They burned my eyes."

**Author's Note: That last line (as accicodanrad9 knows) is from **_**The Book Thief **_**and is one of the best lines/sections of the book! I have no idea why, it just is! Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter and please review!**


	17. Return and Resistance

**Author's Note: Well after many reminders from acciodanrad9, I finally have the next chapter up! I meant to get it up sooner but I was dealing with my first week of the new semester and didn't have a lot of time. But here it is, hope you enjoy it and please review!**

**PS: This is a very belated birthday present to acciodanrad9, so Happy (very belated birthday! **

Chapter 17

Return and Resistance

The next morning, the first thought in Keith's head was that it had all been a dream. A dream that he was actually going to record his experiences in the compound, that he had talked to Toby on the radio and that he had looked out a window and seen the stars of the outside world.

When he sat up in his sleeping bag and saw Natalie's notebook lying near him, he couldn't help but smile knowing that it was all a reality. A wonderful and hopeful reality.

The reality became even more wonderful when Natalie arrived with his breakfast, and he surprised both her and himself when he hugged her the moment she had set his food down.

"Keith, what--?" she began, caught off guard.

"Just 'cause," he murmured into her shoulder, "just 'cause of everything."

A shiver ran down his spine as he felt her place her arms around him and he realized that he never wanted to let her go. He was thinking about returning the kiss that she had given him the night before when…

"Natalie, can you come up here for a minute?!" A voice called out that was definitely not Zach's.

Hearing her name, Natalie sprang out of their hug. "Oh, shit," she whispered. "Oh, shit, this can't be good!" She squeezed his hand in goodbye and then ran out of the room. Once she was gone, Keith shut the door firmly behind her.

He expected her to come back shortly and when she did not, he began to pace around the little room in worry. Since it was so small, he could only walk in a circle which made him very dizzy after awhile. So, he sat down on his sleeping bag and picked up Natalie's notebook and reread what he had written the night before. After his talk with Toby on the radio, Keith had stayed up late, writing out the story of how he had come to compound. He had written it in a journal entry form, injecting more of his own thoughts and feelings than he had when he had told the story orally. It had been hard, considering that it made him remember everything in detail, but detail was what was needed if he wanted to make people realize what his life was like.

Blinking furiously as he skimmed over his words, Keith flipped to a new page and began to write of his first days in the compound.

* * *

Natalie didn't return in the afternoon and Zach didn't come to see him at all. As such, Keith went without lunch. Not that he minded, since he had saved some of the fruit that she had brought and ate that for his lunch. But what he did mind, was that she hadn't come back to check on him. He was getting worried that her parents were finally getting suspicious over their actions…and he was getting a little lonely.

So, Keith spent the rest of the afternoon, writing. By the time, his hand was numb and cramping from so much writing, Zach arrived with dinner.

"Where's Natalie?" he asked immediately when he appeared. "Is she okay?"

"She's fine," said Zach. "Our parents were just wondering why we've been going down to the basement after every meal."

"Shit," Keith swore softly.

"Hey, it's okay, you've only been here three weeks, so they've only been thinking this recently and besides, we told them the reason was that we're doing some more cleaning and paint touch ups. Plus, it's really boring just hanging out in our rooms all day," Zach assured him.

"So, they have no idea that I'm down here?"

"Nope, and we don't plan on telling them," Zach said with a grin.

Despite Zach assurances, Keith was only able to relax when Natalie finally arrived later that night. He had tried to write some more, but his heart just wasn't in it since he could only think of her.

The moment she stepped into the secret room and closed the door behind her, Keith threw his arms around her with such force that he pushed her against the door.

"Keith, what's…what's wrong?" she gasped in surprise when he released her and stepped away.

"What's wrong?!" he repeated, shocked. "Partner, I haven't seen all day and I don't know if you've gotten in trouble because of me and I--I was just worried about you and I--I missed you."

"You were…worried about me?"

"Of course I was!"

"Well, there's nothing to be worried about because they aren't suspecting anything," she told him firmly. "Or at least, they aren't anymore because we made up a reasonable excuse for why we keep coming down here."

"I know, Zach told me," said Keith. "But this means things have to change," he added seriously.

"No, they don't, Keith, really."

"Yeah, they do. I've been here too long. I—I need to go back to the compound."

Here, she grabbed him by the shoulders in alarm and protest. "No! I'm not letting you go back there! You're much safe here!"

"C'mon, partner, you're smart," he said as gently as he could. "We've just been really lucky these past few weeks but now our luck is running out and we need to do something before it runs out completely. By going back to the compound, you and Zach won't have to sneak around anymore and lie to your parents and I can just go back to living my life as none of this ever happened."

He knew his words were a blow and he meant them to be, but she had to see where he was coming from and how it was for the best in the long run. Yet Natalie was incapable of seeing anything at the moment as her eyes were filled with tears and she was shaking her head in firm refusal. "No, no, no!" she cried softly. "I'm not going to believe that none of this happened! And the life you have there isn't a life at all, Keith!"

"Yes, it is," he whispered if only to lessen the hurt he was causing, "it's my life and it has been for a long time." Before she could come with a retort to this, he stepped forward again and hugged her. She buried her face in his shoulder, sniffling softly while Keith rubbed her back soothingly as he tried to prevent a full onslaught of tears. Usually, he would've felt incredibly uncomfortable in this situation but now, it somehow felt like the right thing to do. When she was quiet, he pulled away but kept his hands on her shoulders and said, "Tell you what, partner, I'll stay till the end of the week 'cause I still have tons of writing to do but by next Monday, I _want _to be back in the compound." He ended with emphasis so she could see that he was sincere.

Natalie nodded, although she didn't seem happy about it. "Alright, Keith," she sighed, "if that's what you think is best."

"Yes," he replied. "I do."

True to his word, Keith literally spent every making waking moment writing. He wrote everything that he could think of that had happened to him in the compound, as well some stories of his friends, though he thought up aliases for them. He only stopped when Natalie or Zach arrived with food and promptly hand them what he had written for their approval and to see his handwriting was legible.

At first, Natalie gave him the cold shoulder, no doubt upset that he was willing going back to the compound, but as the week wore on her cold exterior melted and by the end of the week, she was chatting happily with him again or at least as happily as she could, considering the circumstances.

During this time, they discussed ways of getting him back into the compound without getting caught, it was actually Zach who came up with the best idea during one of their discussions on the subject.

"Why don't we just dig a hole under the fence?" he proposed. "The fence where we met you," He added to Keith. "You could just crawl underneath and then me and Natalie will fill it back up again and no one will know."

Keith nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a good idea to me. What about you, partner?" he asked Natalie.

She nodded. "Yeah, it's the best one out of all of them, but we'll have to do it at night, obviously."

It was decided that it they would return Keith on Sunday night, which was tomorrow night and after some last decisions were made, Natalie and Zach left Keith in the secret room once more.

* * *

By a stroke of luck, there was a full moon on Sunday night. It was so bright, that they didn't need flashlights to help them navigate the woods (though all three of them tripped several times). When they reached the fence, the space between it and the trees allowed the light to flash on them like a spotlight.

They moved over to the area where a section had rusted away from its pole to see if Keith could possibly squeeze through. He couldn't even get his shoulders in all the way, despite his thin frame. So once he had backed out of the hole, Zack and Natalie brought out their shovels and began to dig. Once they felt they had a deep enough hole, Keith tried again and this time, he was able to easily worm his way through to the other side.

When he was there, he stood up, brushed himself off and then watched as Zach and Natalie refilled the hole to avoid suspicion. While Zach patted down the dirt, Natalie moved over to where he was standing, feeling as if this would be the last time he would see her.

She was looking so sad that had there not been a fence separating them, Keith was sure he would have hugged her. To compensate, he placed his hand against the chain link and she did the same so that they were fingers were able to intertwine, the closest touch that they were allowed.

"Thank you, partner," Keith said softly. "Thank you for everything, you saved my life."

She shook her head, tears gleaming in her eyes. "No, Keith, we saved each other's lives, at least in a sense. But we've still got some more work to do. You're not gonna die behind a fence, Keith and neither is anyone else in that compound."

He allowed himself a small smile. "Even if I die tomorrow, partner, I'll die happy knowing that you helped me. And loved me. He added to himself.

She blinked furiously and her grip tightened on his hand. "Okay, enough about dying. You should get going."

"Yeah."

"Will I see you soon?"

"Come back in two days around lunchtime. How's that?"

"Too long, but okay." She smiled in goodbye and gave his hand a parting squeeze whereupon Keith took his hand out of hers and turned away and began to walk back into the compound.

He did not look back.

* * *

He took his time walking back to his apartment as he thought about his past two weeks in hiding. Everything around him seemed foreign now. It was as if his time working at the Andersons' and then hiding in their basement had all been a vacation. Now the vacation was over and he had to return to his harsh, cruel reality.

Keith was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't bother to look up and see if anyone was around to see him, walking late and out after curfew.

But someone did.

* * *

Markus had been spending the evening with Rachel where they had talked about the fate of Keith and whether he would be returning to the compound. While both of them wished that he would since he had brought them so much good news, they knew also that he was one step closer to freedom than they were.

Nevertheless, Markus still missed his friend and so when he saw his form ambling across the road, twenty feet in front of him, he immediately turned and sprinted back to Rachel's as fast as he could.

"He's _what_?!" cried Rachel once Markus had informed her and her parents of his sighting.

"He's back! Keith's back! I just saw him walking a few streets away!" Markus cried excitedly.

"What's he doing outside after curfew?" her father asked.

"Who cares? The point is he's back and I'm going to go see him right now!" Markus announced as he simultaneously headed for the door, only to be stopped by Max. "No, you're not, boy," he said, pulling Markus around him to face him. "I am going to be the only one to see Mr. Zetterstrom."

"Why?" Markus demanded instantly.

"To convince him to destroy that radio."

And so, amongst the protests of his family and Markus, Max set out on his mission. He had been planning since Keith had not come back after a week and as such, people were buzzing with where he could possibly be and finding out as to what he had heard on the radio. He knew it all had to stop before they all got in trouble because of that boy's big mouth.

But he would not be alone in his endeavors. First, he needed some support.

* * *

When Keith finally arrived at his apartment it took all of his will power to climb the steps and not turn around, run to the fence and back to Natalie. But he knew it was for his own safety that he was back yet he still opened the door with increasing dread for the next days.

And was utterly surprised to find a whole group of people standing in the main room.

At first they didn't notice him as they were huddled around each other, whispering loudly.

"I think we should all wait until he gets back," a man named David was saying.

"That's a good point, I love your point," said Andy sarcastically. "Now, let's get out of here."

"What are you guys doing here?" Keith asked from the doorway.

Five heads shot up at his question and blatantly stared at him as if he were a ghost. "Keith!" yelled Kurt and Andy in unison and before Keith could brace himself, they ran forward and threw their arms around him. "My God, you're alive!" Andy yelled once they had released him, their faces shining with a happiness that they had not felt in a long time.

"Of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" Keith said with a grin.

"Well, when someone disappears for a three weeks, one tends to think the worst," Kevin spoke up and Keith noted that he was smiled. "Welcome back, Keith," he added as he stepped forward and clapped him on the back.

"Thanks, Kev."

"So, where were you the whole time?" Kurt asked once Kevin had moved away from Keith.

"I was working for the Commander and his family," Keith answered, amongst gasps of surprise.

"Really? Doing what?" Andy asked.

"Mostly yard work or basically whatever they told me to do. But here's the best part," he added in a lower voice. "I have more news!"

"And this is where I must protest," said Mr. Kronstein, stepping forward. "Young man," he began sternly. "I think you've lost sight of the danger that we are all in. There are informers in the compound who will do anything for a few potatoes. So I beg you as a father and husband _please_ destroy that radio before the soldiers find out!"

"All right," he said, "I'll destroy it; it's a dangerous thing anyway."

"Good," Mr. Kronstein, sounding satisfied.

"As dangerous as the radio is, it might interest you to know," Kurt said then, "that since Keith began telling us the news and even with his three week absence, there hasn't been a single suicide in the entire compound."

Keith raised his eyebrows in surprise. "There hasn't?"

"Nope," said Kurt with a grin and he looked and Mr. Kronstein as he added, "So, since the radio saves lives, Keith _can't_ rid of it!"

"Yes, but if he continues to listen to it, it could be very bad for all of us, _especially_ for him!" Max protested in a growl.

"I have an idea," said David and when everyone was looking at him he continued, "We could listen to the latest news and _then_ destroy the radio."

"That's a good idea," said Andy nodding and then he looked expectantly at Keith. "So, where are you hiding your radio?"

Keith had been racking his brain, trying to come up with some excuse so they wouldn't have to listen to the radio that he didn't have when the lights flickered above them.

"Damn," Kevin swore, "they're gonna cut the power again!" Sometimes, after curfew, the power would be cut in case someone was still up and thus, overusing the power. It didn't happen often but apparently this was one of those times.

The lights flickered again and this time, went out all together.

"Well," said Keith, trying to sound disappointed, "looks like we can't listen to the radio tonight. Sorry, guys."

They grumbled in response as three of the five moved toward the door. Max was the last to leave and before he did, he looked back at Keith and said, "Remember what I told you. It will be better for all us all in the end."

"I remember, don't worry," said Keith with a smile, but to himself he added, _Yeah, things will be better for us soon and without the help of a radio. _

* * *

By the time Keith arrived at work the next morning, everyone knew of his return and like Markus, thought he had died. Not only was Keith able to assure them that he was very much alive but also that he had new and good news for them. As such, by lunchtime everyone who worked on his shift seemed to be crowded around him and Keith couldn't help but let a genuinely happy smile cross his face. Because for once, the news that he told them would be the truth.

He started by telling them how people on the outside knew about the compounds already and how these people were actually doctors who wanted to help them. He also explained about they knew how to cure and treat most of the diseases that everyone had, the problem was getting the supplies since the government had confiscated it.

"So, will they be ambushing the compounds?" one person asked hopefully.

"I don't know," said Keith, "but I do know of a specific group that wants more information about the compounds. They really want to help us but they don't know where we are. Plus, they want to get the word out to everyone else who isn't a doctor and has no idea that we're living like this."

"Then, we have to organize and build up our resistance so the soldiers will be outnumbered when they arrive!" Markus declared excitedly.

"What?!" cried Keith, not expecting this at all. "No! No, I don't think that's a good idea."

"You want to fight the soldiers barehanded?" Markus questioned.

"No…no, but I—" Keith began helplessly as other people voiced their opinions on Markus' suggestion. Fortunately, they were ordered back to work then and got to their feet.

"Really, what did you think we were going to do? Sit down and wait?" Professor Kirschbaum asked as he and Keith moved back to the car they were working. "You had to realize it was only a matter of time, my boy."

"I wasn't really sure of anything, Professor," said Keith glumly.

"Listen, Keith," said the professor in a low whisper, "I've known for awhile that your news is mostly lies, perhaps with some truth mixed in and just let me say that hope is all very well, but sometimes it takes a little action too."

Keith sighed. Somehow, of all the people whom he would've wanted to confess his more-lies-than-truth news to, it would have been the professor and so he didn't mind that the old man knew his secret.

Despite this, he couldn't keep himself from protesting."But it'll be a massacre! All because they believed me!"

"And did you really expect anything different?" inquired the professor. "You started this, Keith and while it has done us all much good, we can only hope now that, at least some of your lies were true."

Keith said nothing in reply because he knew that his lies, at least the majority of them were true but that didn't mean that things would necessarily turn out well in the end.

**Author's Note: Ah, the plot thickens! Unfortunately, you're going to have to wait for the chapter after next to find out what happens with the resistance in the compound. Hope you liked the chapter and please review!**


	18. A Yellow Ribbon

**Author's Note: Well, since everyone else was updating their stories (and acciodanrad9 finished hers with the best ending ever! Yay!) I decided to jump on the bandwagon and update mine. I meant to get this up last night but I was actually writing a story for my Fiction Writing class. So, here is chapter 18 which I'm sure you're going to hate me for ending, but I hope you like it just the same and please review!**

**Oh and look out for another **_**Boy in the Striped Pajamas**_** reference! **

Chapter 18

A Yellow Ribbon

The only light that shone in the office building basement was a small desk lamp and even this was turned to its dimmest setting. The feeble light provided enough lit to read by, especially for one who was used to reading in inadequate lighting.

Toby Scholl sighed heavily and set down the pieces of paper that he had just finished reading. He rested his elbows on the desk next to the papers and rubbed his temples tiredly. The papers chronicled things that Toby could never dream of another human doing to another, much less several. It was a description of his friend, Keith's first days in the Lodlin compound, a place that Toby couldn't fully imagine despite Keith's detailed descriptions of not only its physical buildings but also of the conditions of those who lived there. The cramped quarters, the sickness, the hard labor, the constant fear of being shot or put on a train to a place called "the Lab" which they didn't even know where or what it was. Toby knew exactly what the Lab was, thanks to a double agent in their group. He sent monthly reports of the atrocities that went on there and what he was forced to do and he shuddered at the thought of it. But as soon as he had done so, he roused up his courage, fitted a fresh piece of paper into the typewriter and began pecking his way through his friend's hardships.

He was halfway through the second page when he heard a series of knocks on basement door. Toby sat up straight in his chair and listened intently as the knocks continued, making sure they were correct.

Satisfied after a moment, he got up, climbed the stairs and opened the door to reveal his father.

"I was wondering when you were going to answer," he said with a small smile as he followed his son down the steps, after he had closed the door securely behind him.

"Sorry," said Toby, "I had to make sure whoever it was got it all right."

"A wise decision," said Frank.

"Is anyone else coming? Or did you just come to check up on me?"

"Dr. Klaus and Dr. Probst should be stopping by later tonight to help with printing and distributing," Frank replied and then added, "And yes, I wanted to check up on you. How's the ink holding out?"

"Good."

"Have you received any more?"

"No, not yet," said Toby as he sat back down at the typewriter to resume typing. He waited in case his father had more to say and when he said nothing, he began typing once again. After a few minutes, he asked, "Dad?"

"Yeah, Tobs?"

"Have you read any of it?"

"Any of what Keith wrote, you mean?"

"Yeah."

"No."

At this, Toby looked up, surprised. "Why not?"

"Because I have been busy contacting other groups like us and organizing distributors as well as trying to find out how many compounds there are and where they are," his father told him calmly. "If we really want to save Keith, Toby, we have to_ find _him first."

"There was a return address on the envelope that this came in!" Toby cried, pointing at the handwritten pages.

"True, but it's not as easy as just looking up the town on a map…especially if it's not _on_ a map to begin with."

Toby said nothing in reply to this because if he did, he would worry about it and he had enough to worry at the moment. Rereading what he had already typed, he said without looking up, "I still think you should read what Keith wrote, Dad, might things in perspective."

He heard his father sigh heavily as he walked around him and picked up Keith's account of his life. Silence filled the room, broken only by the tapping of the typewriter keys until finally, Dr. Scholl said, gravely. "Toby, we're going to get him out of there if it's the last thing we do."

* * *

Even though she knew it was an extremely clichéd thing to say, Natalie felt empty once Keith had returned to the compound. She felt like she had somehow betrayed him even though it was his choice to go back. When her worries reached their height, mainly during the night when she was lying wide awake in bed, she made plans to sneak out of the house, grab a shovel from the shed and dig under the fence if only to make sure that he was all right. Of course, in the morning, her rational mind took over and she knew that this was incredibly stupid and dangerous and she would never do such a thing to risk Keith's safety. But that didn't stop her from worrying and thinking about him.

Two days after Keith had left, she sent the second of his accounts to the address Toby had given her. The closest public mailbox was in the small town that their house lay outside of, so once she had mailed (with a small prayer that it arrived safely to those that it was for) she set off into the woods to see Keith, as they had planned.

If not for all of the trees, Natalie would have run all the way to the fence and her heart thumped against her chest as she had just sprinted a long distance, although this was more due to anxiety over what he would look like than exercise.

She needn't have worried since he looked exactly the same as when she had seen him two days ago, still thin yes, but she couldn't see any new bruises or marks on him that would suggest a recent punishment. In fact, when she stepped a twig with a crack like a gunshot, his head shot up just like it had the first time they had met. Except this time, his face split to a wide, happy smile.

"Partner," he said as she approached, "you don't know how happy I am to see you."

"The feeling's mutual, Keith," she replied with an equally happy smile. She set her backpack down on the ground and then moved to stand in front him, so close that had the fence not separated them, their noses would have touched.

"How are you?" she asked after blinking from staring into his brilliant green eyes.

"I'm good, everything's as good it can be," he said smoothly although she detected a hint of doubt in his voice. Because of this, she asked, "What's wrong, Keith?"

"Well, I—I told people about everything that we found with Toby and now they think they're going to be rescued really soon, so—so they're going to start a resistance," he said.

Natalie raised her eyebrows. This was not good; this was not good at all.

"Have you tried to explain it to them that it could take awhile?"

"Of course I have!" Keith cried exasperatedly. "And a lot of people are still set on fighting but I've convinced them that they have to wait for the signal from the radio before they can fight."

"What's the signal?"

"Nothing, since I'm hoping Toby and his group will come before someone does somethin' stupid." Here, he knotted his fingers in his hair in frustration and cried, "But someone's already done that! _Me_! If I hadn't heard your dad's radio, none of this would have happened!"

"Exactly, Keith!" said Natalie. "If you hadn't listened to that radio, you wouldn't have had a reason to come out here to think on that day you meet me. If none of that hadn't happened, Keith, you probably wouldn't have as a good chance at surviving all of this like you do now." She paused to let her words sink in and then added, "I'm not trying to give myself all the credit or anything, but from what you've told me about people's reactions in the compound, you've give them just as much as reason to live as yourself."

When she finished this little speech, she took in his reaction and was surprised to see that he was…smiling?

"Why…why are you smiling?" she asked, utterly confused.

"Because," said Keith, "somehow, someway no matter what the situation, you're always able to make me feel better about it." With that, he slid his fingers through one of the diamond shaped holes in the wiring so that Natalie was able to squeeze them affectionately.

Once he took his hand away, she opened her backpack and passed his lunch through the gap in the fence. As they ate, she told him about everything that was happening on her side of the fence and they both wondered what Toby was up to and if they (or at least in Natalie's case) would ever get to meet him one day.

After they had finished eating, Natalie said, "I've got a surprise for you, Keith."

He grinned. "And what's that?"

"Well, I figured we could do something different today than just talk," said Natalie. Here, she reached into her backpack and pulled out a thick wooden board and a plastic bag full of…

"Checkers?!" cried Keith as she laid the board on the grass.

"Yup, I wasn't sure if you liked checkers or chess more so I just picked the one that we actually had."

"Yeah, I love checkers, chess makes my head hurt," said Keith as he scooted closer to the fence to better see the board.

Since Keith had no way to effectively move his pieces, he pointed to the ones that he wanted to move and to what spot and Natalie moved them accordingly. After they had each won one game, she decided to make things a bit more interesting. During their third game, when it was Keith's turn, he said, "That one there," he pointed at the checker at the far right side, "to there." And pointed to the square diagonally to the right of it.

"This one?" Natalie inquired, touching the checker that was on the complete opposite side of the one he had pointed at.

"No, that one," said Keith, pointing at his original one.

"This one?" Natalie asked, pointing to another checker that was still on the opposite side.

"No, that one!" cried Keith as a smile formed on his lips as he realized her game.

"This one?"

"No!"

"This one?"

"Partner, stop bein' silly!" he laughed lightly and Natalie laughed too as she continued to guess the wrong checker. Finally, she picked the right checker and moved to where he had originally wanted it, amidst a fit of giggles from both of them.

When that game was over, Natalie announced that she should be getting home.

"Yeah, I suppose I should be heading back too," said Keith with a sigh. They both reluctantly got to their feet and when they stood facing each other, Natalie asked, "Same time in two days then?"

"Yup, I'll be here waitin'," said Keith.

"You better be," said Natalie, "because I don't what I'd do if anything happened to you."

* * *

For the next two weeks, they continued to meet at the fence. Natalie did most of the talking and as much as she wanted to know about what was going on in the compound, she knew that it was the last thing Keith wanted to talk about. So, when she had finished telling about what was going on in her life, they discussed what they would do once Keith and the others were freed.

"I know what I'm gonna do," said Keith during one such conversation. "I'm gonna eat so much food that I'll make myself puke." He looked very excited about it too.

"That doesn't sound very fun, Keith," said Natalie, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"Maybe not to you, but to me it's gonna be amazing!" Then, his smile faded and he said softly, "But most of all, I—I wanna spend time with you, partner."

"Don't worry, Keith, you will. I'm not going to let you out of my sight when this is all over."

Keith bit his lip as if he were going to say something but said nothing. So Natalie said, "Hey, would it be okay if Zach came the next time? Since he kind of knows about you now and where I go, he's been asking to come."

He perked up at this and said excitedly. "Yeah, of course! That'd be great!"

"Okay, then," said Natalie with a smile.

And so, for the rest of the week and the week after that, Zach accompanied her to the fence. With the larger audience, Keith talked more and Natalie teased him about not talking as much with her since she was a girl. To this remark, he rolled his eyes and said that that was just stupid, since his talks with her were the high points of his days. Like Natalie and Keith had done before, they talked with Zach about what they would do once Keith was free and what kind of ambush the Scholls might be planning to ensure Keith's freedom.

When Natalie and Zach decided that they should be heading back home, Natalie said to Keith, "Take care of yourself, okay, Keith?"

"I always do, partner," he replied with a smile as he got to feet.

She held his gaze for a moment, giving him an equally happy smile before she turned with Zach and began hiking back through the woods towards home.

* * *

The days leading up to their next meeting passed excruciatingly slowly as they always seemed to, but this time, Natalie couldn't help feeling that their next meeting would be different from the rest. She didn't know if it would be a good or bad different, but different nonetheless. She tried to think this too often and was so successful at this that she was almost able to forget about it entirely.

Almost.

"Natalie, slow down!" Zach called out as they trekked once more though the woods to the fence. "Keith wouldn't want you to get hurt while coming to see him!"

"I know, I just have this feeling and I—I just need to see him," she said distracted. "I—I just need to make sure…make sure he's okay."

"He'll be fine, Natalie, don't worry so much," Zach assured as he fought through the branches to keep up with her quickened pace.

But when Natalie broke into the clearing where the fence was, it wasn't worry that filled her, but fear. Cold, numbing fear as her heart pounded in her chest.

Keith wasn't sitting behind the fence, waiting for them.

In fact he wasn't anywhere to be seen.

The only sign that he had been there was a yellow ribbon—_her_ yellow ribbon that she had given him—that had been tired to the wire and was now fluttering gently in the breeze.

Natalie's mouth opened of its own account in shock as she moved slowly toward the fence. She was aware that Zach was following her but had eyes only for the ribbon. When she was close enough, she reached out a hand and let her fingers brush against the silky material.

As soon as her fingers touched it, a loud crack like a whip sounded through the stillness of the forest, causing Natalie to jump in surprise and look wildly around for the source of it. The silence also made the noise echo around them and last for much longer than it actually did. When there was complete, albeit tense silence again, Natalie looked at her brother questioningly only to find that he was extremely pale.

"Zach," she breathed, "please tell me that wasn't what I think it was."

Her swallowed thickly and then said shakily. "I—I'm sorry, Nat but that—that was a gunshot."

**Author's Note: And now you hate me don't you? I'm sorry but it had to end that way, it just had to! I'll try not to keep you in suspense for too long but in the meantime, please review!**


	19. Birth of a Hero

**Author's Note: Terribly sorry for the lateness of this chapter! I seem to have a problem figuring out how to start them even though I know exactly what I want to write. You can also blame major procrastination on both homework and this chapter for its tardiness. This one is pretty intense but I hope you like it (at least a little bit) and please review!**

_**Warning: contains violence **_

Chapter 19

Birth of a Hero

Over the next few weeks, Keith tried to quench the idea of resistance as best as he could. But his efforts were to no avail; with the idea of rescue and freedom planted in their heads, no one would listen to him, only thank him for all he had done in giving them hope and the courage to finally do something. Keith knew he didn't deserve their praise since in reality, he had only made things worse.

And so, against his better judgment and Markus' peer pressure, he found himself sitting in a circle of chairs in the living room of Professor Kirschbaum's apartment. The circle included his friends, roommates, Al, Markus' father and Rachel's father. He wrung his hands together and shirted nervously in his seat. They had just taken a vote as to who lead the resistance and Keith had a pretty good idea who it would be.

And he was right.

"The person who will lead us against the soldiers will be Keith Zetterstrom," Professor Kirschbaum announced. After a round of applause, Mr. Kronstein moved over to Keith and said seriously. "Since you are the leader now, I suppose I will entrust you with this." And he produced from an inner pocket of his coat, a small shotgun and pressed into Keith's hands. "I once played Sherlock Holmes in _The Hound of the Baskervilles_ and was adamant about realistic props," he added as a way of explanation at Keith's stunned face. He looked down at the gun in hands, not knowing or caring whether it was loaded, the symbolism of thing scared him more than he ever thought it could.

Things were going too far.

And now he could do nothing to stop it.

"So, Keith, what are we going to do next?" asked Markus, jolting Keith out of his depressing thoughts.

He looked at all those gathered around him, "We…we have to wait for the signal," he said finally and without much conviction.

"What's the signal?" Markus asked instantly.

"I don't know yet but I know I'll hear it on the radio. And once I know, I'll tell you all," Keith assured them, hoping there would be no more questions since he was sure his nerves couldn't take anymore strain for the day.

Thankfully, everyone seemed satisfied to hear that and the meeting moved on to other topics. While the gun sat like chocolate in Keith's hands.

* * *

The only thing keeping him going over the next few days were his visits with Natalie and thinking of her when he was at work. Thoughts of her always calmed him and he often found himself reminiscing about his time in her basement when she had stayed with him after he had told her about his past. And she had comforted him, hugged him, kissed him and most importantly of all, _loved_ him.

And he couldn't even muster up the courage to tell her that he loved her back or was at least staring to, more so than he thought was possible.

It was after his most recent visit with Natalie (where Zach had also joined them) that he was at work, stripping a car with Markus that they were ordered outside for an important announcement. When everyone was gathered outside the building a uniformed officer spoke via a megaphone. "We received information through one of our informers that an individual within this facility has managed to acquire an illegal radio and has been distributing the news that he or she has gathered from it. Such news includes the very false notions that cures for your diseases have been found and that a secret resistance movement is planning to ambush us. I can assure that all of this 'news' is completely false and on the orders of the Commander, the individual responsible for these grave lies must report to Headquarters by eleven o'clock tonight. If they do not, the consequences for them and for you will be very serious. That is all."

Keith's heart was hammering against his rib cage as soon as the officer had raised to megaphone to his mouth. Now, it felt like it would burst out of his chest at any moment. He knew he should've expected this. Right from the beginning, he should known what he was doing would lead to something like this. _Of course_, they would find out eventually, they weren't stupid. It was only a matter of time and now it had finally happened.

Although he was scared beyond belief, he rallied his thoughts together and tried to think rationally as to what he should do next. As he walked back into the building with Markus, he subconsciously put his hands in his pocket and felt his fingers brush against Natalie's ribbon. This sparked an idea in his mind; he had to find some way to tell her what was happening before tonight and he knew he couldn't risk waiting for her at the fence to tell her in person...

Immediately after work, Keith sprinted to the area of fence where he met Natalie. She wasn't there of course and he hadn't expected her to be. As he drew near, he slowed down and walked the rest of the way. When he was standing mere inches from the wire, he solemnly took out Natalie's ribbon and tied securely around one of the places where the wire intertwined. He stared at for several seconds, watching as it moved with the slight breeze.

"Thank you, Natalie," he said softly to the ribbon. "Thank you for everything. I dunno what's gonna happen but if I don't…don't make or something…I—I just want you to that you saved my life in more ways than can even know. Goodbye, partner." He finished in a whisper as the ribbon blurred into a waving streak of yellow with his tears. Wiping at his eyes, Keith turned and slowly began to walk back to the compound.

* * *

Ten minutes later, he was sitting at the kitchen table in his apartment with Markus, Andy, Kevin and Kurt sitting around him, looking grave.

Finally, Keith cleared his throat. "Obviously, you guys heard the announcement. They know about the radio, so that means I'm gonna have to turn myself in."

"You don't have to, Keith," said Markus, "One of us should go. We pressured you into telling us the news. You shouldn't have to take the blame for what we all did."

"Yes, I should, Mark," said Keith sadly. "I started all this, I've got to see it to the end. If I did anything else, I'd be a coward." He looked each of his friends in the eye and the continued, "If I don't come to work tomorrow, I want you guys to look after Billy for me. Can you do that?"

"Of course we can, Keith," said Kevin, his voice hollow.

"Thanks." He stopped talking then, in order to compose himself for what he had to say to them next because if he didn't at least tell those closest to him, he couldn't be content with giving himself up.

"And now I have something to confess," he said finally, looking each of them in the eye. They waited expectantly and Keith took a deep breath and said, "I don't have a radio. I've never had one and even I did, I—I don't think I'd have the guts to listen to as often as I'm sure it seemed I did." He went on to explain about the night that he had gotten caught seeking back into the compound and had heard the news report on the radio in HQ. He even told them about his relationship with Natalie and how she had provided some of his news.

"But in the end, most of it was lies. All lies and now I've gotten us into this mess," he finished.

There was complete silence once he finished, no one spoke and just stared wide eyed and awed at him. Finally, Markus said, "Keith, you didn't lie, you told us what you could and through those little bits of truth that you had the guts to collect, you gave us two things that we've all craved."

"And what's that?" Keith asked bitterly.

"Hope and a reason to live," his friend replied with a small smile.

Keith allowed himself a small smile at this as Kevin said, "Thank you for telling us, Keith. Whatever happens, I just want to say that even though you've been annoying sometimes, I'm glad you and Kurt were my roommates."

"Thank you for everything, Keith," Kurt added.

"You're welcome, guys," said Keith, feeling tears prick his eyes and he lowered his head so they wouldn't see him cry. He heard chairs shifting as his friends got to their feet and waited until they moved into the foyer before he stood up and joined them.

"Hey, Mark?" he said when he arrived. When his friend looked at him, surprised, Keith asked, "Can you help me with something?"

* * *

Nearly three hours later, as the sun was just beginning its descent toward the horizon, Keith and Markus were walking across the compound and toward the gate that separated them from Headquarters.

"You sure it's going to work, Keith?" Markus asked, breaking the silence.

"No. I have no idea it'll work…But it's all I could come up with and I'm willing to take the risk," he added firmly.

"God, Keith, I don't think I've met a person as brave as you," his friend said. "How the hell do you do it?"

Keith didn't look at him as they continued walking and he replied. "Because I have to."

They said their goodbyes a good distance away from the gate. Keith gave Markus Mr. Kronstein's gun, telling him to give it back to its owner as it would be no use to him now. Then, Markus clapped him on the shoulder and said, voice quavering slightly. "No matter happens with the resistance group or not, I—I'm glad we...got to be friends, Keith."

"Me too, Mark," said Keith. "Me too."

Then he turned and strode toward the gate, having no idea what would be waiting for him when he got there.

* * *

Despite the fact that it was still light out, the searchlights were already making a steady sweep over the area. It seemed that the moment Keith got within their range, one of the lights immediately flashed onto him as if had been waiting for him.

"Hey, guard!" Keith called out. "Remember me, the smart rat?"

"What you doing out now? It's almost curfew!" was the shouted reply.

"It's about my radio. I'm here to give myself up."

"Ah, so maybe you're not such a smart rat then," the guard laughed. "Keep going, then."

"Yeah, I know the way," Keith mumbled as he turned and walked toward the large building.

* * *

"So, _you're_ the one who's been giving us all so many headaches?" asked the large, gruff officer as he circled around to his desk and sat down.

"Yes," said Keith, "I am." He was sitting across from him while several soldiers and officers circled around them, curious to see the culprit. Yet, Keith noted with some surprise, that Natalie's father was not among them and he told the officer so. "I want to speak the Commander about this, it's only fair since he was the one who employed a troublemaker at his house."

"Yes, it's only fair, although you are much more than a troublemaker. You are a criminal," said a voice and everyone's head turned to see Natalie's father standing in the doorway, looking very important and extremely satisfied. "Bring the boy to my office," he instructed one of his men and then left without another word.

And so, minutes later, Keith found himself sitting across from Natalie's father in his office, except that this time there were only two officers who had accompanied him and were now standing against the back wall.

"Did you bring your radio?" Mr. Anderson asked finally.

"Yes…and no."

"What the hell does that mean? Answer the question!"

"I don't have a radio," said Keith, his voice strangely flat that it even surprised him. "I've never had a radio."

"Liar," spat out one of the officers against the wall.

"Yes, my thoughts exactly," said Mr. Anderson coldly and before Keith had any warning, a hand slapped his cheek so sharply that he cried out and fell off of his chair.

"Where is your radio? Where are you hiding it?" snarled the officer.

"I don't have—ah!" Keith yelped as he was hit with what felt like a riding crop except it was equipped with tiny sharp spikes on the leather end which felt like a hundred needles stabbing him simultaneously. The officer continued to ask him where his radio and when Keith started to tell him that he didn't have one, he would hit him with the altered riding crop on various parts of his body. Finally, when his whole body was stinging and Keith was curled in the tightest fetal position he had ever been in on the floor, the officer asked, "Commander, this would be much easier on all of us if we just shoot him. This has all gone on long enough."

"Certainly not, Blackwell," said Mr. Anderson and Keith heard him get up and walk over to him. He dared not look up at him and stayed where he was, keeping his eyes firmly squeezed shut.

But instead of enough another assault, Keith felt a gentle tapping on his shoulder. Cautiously he relaxed his body so that he was lying flat on his back and looked up into Natalie's father's face.

"Show me your radio," he demanded softly.

Keith sat up slowly, painfully aware of every place where the riding crop had hit him and asked, "You want to see my radio?"

"Yes."

"Okay." Still sitting on the floor, Keith pointed up to the small radio that was still sitting in the same place from when he had first entered the office, all those weeks ago. "It's right there. That's my radio."

* * *

"It was you. You were the inmate who was out after curfew," Mr. Anderson. It was just the two of him in his office now, he was sitting behind his desk while Keith sat across from him.

"Yes. And as I've already said, it was your radio that I listened to." When Mr. Anderson didn't say anything to this, Keith said, "That's a pretty big problem for you, then."

"_You're_ the one with the problem, rat!" he growled.

"Maybe, but that's a serious offense, isn't it?" said Keith conversationally. Now that he wasn't being beaten, he felt strangely calmer even though the man in front of him had the power to take away his life. "Letting someone like me listen to a radio. You could shoot me, I guess, but you still don't have my radio."

Silence fell between them as Mr. Anderson considered this. Finally, he said or rather ordered, "You will stand in front of all the inmates tomorrow afternoon, before they put on trains and taken to the Lab. You will stand in front of them and tell them that there is no radio, no resistance, you made it all up. You lied." Here he smiled wickedly, "And then either myself or one of my men will stop the lies from ever continuing."

* * *

Appropriately enough, it was an overcast sky the next day. Although Keith didn't see it until it was the afternoon. He was kept in a small, windowless room with his hands and ankles shackled. No one visited him with food or water and when they did, it was only to lead him out to his death.

During that time, he thought mostly of Natalie and confessed his true love for her in his thoughts. He played out the scene in his mind where he would take her in his arms and kiss her as long as they both had oxygen in order to finally show how much he loved her. Yet the touching scene, knowing that it would never happen, caused him to cry…and cry…and cry, finally unleashing all the tears that he had kept bottled inside of him since everything had gone downhill. He didn't stop crying until an officer came ordered him to his feet.

As he was led out to the raised platform where other executions had taken place, Keith tried didn't see anything of his surroundings. Mainly because they were too depressing and he was determined to keep Natalie's smiling face in his mind at all times, since it was her face that he wanted to be the last thing that he ever saw.

Yet, he couldn't ignore the sight of the hundreds and hundreds of people who were crowded in the main square. As he and his guards approached, they all turned as one massive form to stare at him. Keith couldn't see their faces as his vision was blurred with tears. He blinked them away as he was forced to climb the few steps up to the platform. There, Natalie's father was waiting for him, tall and impassive like a stone column. When Keith was standing in the middle of the platform and was facing the crow, he stepped forward and shouted out to the crow. "You all know this boy! He told you he had a radio! He told you that you should resist our authority! He told you that you could be cured and set free! He will now tell that it was all a lie!"

With that, he stepped back and looked expectantly at Keith, who in turn looked out at the crowd full of his friends, people who had shared in his pain and suffering and who had believed in him, who felt that they owed their lives to him because he had brought them hope. As he stared, he tried to find Markus and Andy and everyone else but there were too many and he was too far away.

"Tell them!" demanded a solider from somewhere behind him.

Keith said nothing and continued to stare straight ahead.

"Tell them!" A different one ordered, a few minutes later.

Still, Keith said nothing.

"Tell them, boy, _tell them_!" growled Mr. Anderson threateningly.

At this, Keith turned his head to find him standing a few feet away from him and as Natalie's father glared at him with death in his eyes, Keith felt a smile spread across his lips.

He said, raising his voice so that it would echo and be heard by everyone around them. "Someday soon, you'll be standing where I am."

He kept his smile plastered to his face as Mr. Anderson drew his pistol from his belt, pointed it at Keith's chest and fired.

The sound of the blast and several screams echoed around the compound as Keith crumpled to the ground and lay still.

Absolutely still.

**Author's Note: Well, that sets the record for the most depressing chapter I've ever written….ever. I'm awaiting your reviews, provided you don't hate me. **

**Oh and I hope you didn't mind all of the chapter breaks! **


	20. If You Cried, You Died

**Author's Note: Hello, all! Well, my homework has finally slowed down enough so that I can sit down and write my next chapter! Sorry for the delay but like I said, school and spring break kept me from writing. **

**So obviously in this chapter, you will finally find out Keith's fate. I'm sure Ash Reily is going to have a field day with all of my medical inaccuracies, but all I can is that I did research I swear! Hope you like it and please review! **

_**Warning: contains some gore**_

Chapter 20

If You Cried, You Died

The gunshot echoed in Natalie's ears long after it had faded away. Adrenaline coursed through her veins a single thought filled her head.

Keith was dead.

She had let him go back and he was dead because of her.

At this revelation, Natalie pounced at the rusted section of the fence and began clawing away at the dirt. She had to get to him. She had to see him. She had to get his body out of that horrible place, give him a proper burial if need be.

She had dug only a small hole when an arm grabbed her around her waist and began hauling her away. Instantly she began fighting whoever it was, but their grip only tightened.

"Natalie! Natalie, calm down!" a voice ordered as her captor dragged her away from the fence.

"NO!" she screamed. "I need to find him, I…I ne—need to g-get him out of there!" She had started crying as grief finally overpowered her and her tears caused her struggling to slacken.

"Natalie, there's nothing we can do," said her captor softly as whoever it was set her gently on the ground. Here, Natalie wiped at her eyes and looked up to find Zach kneeling in front of her, looking both concerned and sad. She had completely forgotten that he had come with her to see Keith once they had heard the gunshot.

"How can you say that, Zach?" she asked in disbelief. "_We_ became friends with him. _We_ hid him in our basement and took care of him._ We_ promised we would help him or no one would." She paused to dab at her eyes as another wave of tears threatened to spill over and then continued, "We've got to get him out there and anyone else who's there."

"Natalie, c'mon," said Zach. "There's two of us and probably hundreds of them, not to mention all the guards they probably have in that place. And I'm pretty sure Dad's not gonna be too happy to see us in there."

"So what?" Natalie snapped. "What if he's the one who killed Keith?!"

Zach bit his lip then and looked away while Natalie realized the full meaning of what she had just suggested. Her father, the man who had raised her and had never lifted a finger to her, could be responsible for ending the life of an innocent boy. A boy who happened to be the most important person in her life.

She felt sick to her stomach at this thought; her _own father_ was a murderer.

Now incensed with anger towards her father, Natalie flung herself at the fence and before she could even think about the danger of what she was doing, she had lifted up the rusted part of the fence and wriggled through the small gap that it allowed. She could feel the sharp ends of the wire cut into her shirt and pierce her skin, but she ignored the pain as she wormed her way through to the other side. When she was through, she stood up and turned around to face the fence, only to find Zach getting to his feet on the same side as her.

"Zach," said Natalie in disbelief, "what are you doing?"

"What's it look like I'm doing?" he replied. "You think I was gonna just let you walk into a place where people are starved and killed for no reason?" Natalie shook her head, privately grateful that her brother had followed her.

"I still think this is stupid," said Zach as they began walking toward the main part of the compound. "I mean, not about getting Keith but just, coming in here without any sort of weapons. What if there are guards with machine guns or something?"

But apparently there weren't. Because, a few minutes later they arrived at what they assumed was the outskirts of the compound; there was no one in sight. In fact, there were no signs of life anywhere. The eerie silence of the place made a chill run down Natalie's spine. Where was everyone? From what Keith had told her, it sounded like there were hundreds of people living in Lodlin, now there was no one. Had they all been taken to the Lab?

Quickly she shook this last thought from her head. She couldn't think about what had happened to everyone else, at least not yet. Right now, she had to find Keith.

As much as she wanted to run throughout the compound and look for him, she and Zach walked slowly down what they assumed, was the main street. It was a ghost town and the dilapidated buildings added to the depressing emptiness of it all.

As they walked, Natalie tried not to imagine scores of starved people roaming the street, being whipped or yelled at by soldiers like her father. It was just all so surreal which made the truth hurt even more.

Finally, they arrived at the end of the street and came upon a large open space. Across from them was another chink link fence and in the middle of the area was a raised platform and lying on the platform was…

"KEITH!" Natalie screamed at the sight of his still form. She sprinted forward, faster than she had ever run in her life. She nearly tripped up the few steps in her haste to reach him and when she did, she half fell, half collapsed beside him.

She couldn't tell if he was dead or alive since her eyes were filled with tears. He certainly looked it, dead that is. His eyes were closed and he hadn't given any sign that he had heard her shouting. He was sprawled out on the platform and she nearly began to cry harder at the sight of the bullet hole in his shirt. Upon seeing it, she leaned forward and awkwardly wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his shoulder.

"Keith," she wept. "Keith, I'm s-s-sorry, I'm s-so…so sorry. I should've n-never let you come back. It—It's my fault. It's all my fault."

"N-No, it's n-not," a voice croaked, barely audible.

Her breath caught at the sound of the voice, but it couldn't be. It wasn't possible…

Slowly, Natalie lifted her head to look at Keith, only to be met with his green eyes staring blearily up at her.

"Keith?! How--?"

She was cut off by the sound of a gun being cocked in her ear and a low voice ordered. "Get off of him. Now."

Shaking in fear now, Natalie slowly rolled off of Keith and looked up into, not only the barrel of a gun but the face of a young man in his late twenties, who was standing imposingly above her. Upon seeing her, however, he lowered the gun and a small smile graced his lips as he said, "Ah, you must be Natalie. I'm Toby."

* * *

"Toby?" Natalie repeated, shocked. "You're Toby Scholl?"

"Yes," said Toby as he placed his gun inside his coat, "I am." Then, he turned his attention to Keith and quickly crouched down beside him.

"Keith? Can you hear me?" he asked as he began pulling strange metal tools out of his coat.

Keith groaned in reply.

"How in the hell is he still alive?" asked Zach from somewhere behind Natalie. "He looks like he's been shot."

"He has," said Toby as he used a small knife to rip open Keith's shirt, whereupon Keith flinched in pain. Knowing that this action proved beyond a doubt that he was very much alive, Natalie stroked his hair and said comfortingly. "Keith, it's okay."

"No, it's not!" he yelled weakly. "It hurts! Oh, god, get it out!"

"Doin' that right now, bud," Toby assured him. Then, he and Natalie both looked down at Keith's chest and Natalie glanced at Toby, she was sure the complete look of surprise on his face mirrored hers.

Instead of the bloodied mess that they had expected to find, they found that a sheet of metal had been placed on top of Keith's chest, as a sort of bulletproof vest. Considering that Keith was still alive but in immense pain, the 'vest' had slowed the bullet's progress but had not stopped it completely.

While Natalie stared in complete shock, Toby cut the strings that had tied the metal to Keith and slid it off of him. Yet, once he did this, fresh blood gurgled up from the entrance wound.

"Damn!" Toby swore, immediately clamping his hand over the wound to stop the blood as Keith cried out in pain. "Natalie, move in front of him and distract him 'cause this is gonna hurt."

Shaking, Natalie did as she was told and placed her hands on either side of his head and began whispered comforting words to him. She was so focused on her task that she didn't notice that another person had joined them until a voice said, "Need some help, Toby?"

"What's it look like, Emma?" Toby snapped angrily.

Natalie didn't look up to see who Emma was, but continued to focus on Keith. He screamed in pain as Toby began to extract the bullet from his chest, forcing Natalie nearly smother his head with her body in order to keep him still. His screams tore at her chest and she nearly cried along with him until Toby yelled triumphantly, "Got it!"

At this, Natalie sat back in relief only to look down at Keith to find that his face was shining with sweat and as she watched, his eyes rolled back into his head.

"Uh, Toby…"

"What?...Shit, he's going into shock!" Immediately, Toby began stuffing Keith's chest with large amounts gaze from his coat before he threw said coat over Keith. Then, he checked his pulse while Emma monitored the bleeding in his chest.

"It's…it's getting stronger," said Natalie as she pressed two fingers to his neck.

Toby blew out his breath in relief. "Yeah…yeah it is, but we've got to get him to the Lab now. He's already lost enough blood."

"What?!" cried Natalie. "Why?!"

"Because he can get better there."

"No, he won't! He'll die there!"

"Well, yes he would," Toby admitted. "But, if everything has gone according to plan, what was formerly known as the Lab should now be called a hospital."

* * *

Once Keith was stabilized and conscious, Toby, via a walkie-talkie called for a large van which pulled up to them almost immediately after he had made the call. Out from the back came four men with a stretcher upon which Keith was placed. Natalie found it strange that they did not ask any questions and merely informed them that Keith would receive proper and quick treatment when they arrived at the Lab. As he was being placed inside, Keith gripped Natalie's hand tightly and she was about to climb in with him when Toby intervened, saying. "Keith, Natalie has to come with me but I promise you that we'll come to you once we're through with our business." At this, Keith shook his head wildly in protest and cried weakly, "No, I want her to…to come."

"Keith, you have to leave, we've already wasted enough to time and I really Natalie's help with what I have to do. You trust me, don't you?" Toby asked.

At this, Keith nodded slowly and reluctantly let go of Natalie's hand and one of the men inside closed the van's doors. Natalie watched it drive away with tears pricking at her eyes, even though she knew Keith was going (hopefully) to a place where he could get better, she hated to see him leave in the state that he was in.

When it was gone, she turned back to Toby where she was able to finally get a good look at him.

Knowing that he was a doctor (or at least learning to be one) she had imagined to be look like something of a geek, with short hair and thick glasses, the very brainy type. Instead, he had shaggy brown hair that fell almost to shoulders and an angular face with large pale gray eyes. Yet the most interesting thing about him was that he was a uniform very similar to her father's except that a large yellow Y shone brightly on each shoulder. Before Natalie could ask as to what it meant, Toby raked a hand through his hair and sighed heavily. "Okay, now that the excitement's over, I suppose we need to explain a few things."

He looked at Natalie and gave her a small smile. "As I said earlier, I'm Toby Scholl, Keith's friend."

"I'm Natalie," said Natalie. "This is my brother, Zach." She added as he came up to stand next her. He looked very bewildered and a bit pale.

"You okay, man?" Toby asked, addressing him.

Zach gulped and said, "Yeah…yeah, I just…that was insane. I—I never seen someone who's been shot before."

"This whole place is insane," said Toby. Then, he gestured to the woman who had come to his and Keith's aid. Like Toby had before he had given his to Keith, she was wearing a long black coat that had the same two yellow Ys on the shoulders. She had short gray hair, eyes and a kind face.

"This is Emma Schindler, another doctor and member of our resistance group," Toby explained.

"And what group is that?" Zach asked.

"Well," said Toby as he began leading the way towards the front gates and out of the compound, "we call ourselves the Color Yellow."

* * *

When they reached the entrance to the compound, they were met by a large burly man. Toby introduced him as Will and he was part of the law enforcement division of their group. "Basically his job is to arrest people," said Toby as they all got into a van to drive back to Natalie and Zach's house, "such as your father."

As they drove off, he looked back at Natalie and Zach and asked, "You are aware that we have to arrest your father, right?"

"Hell, yes," Zach replied instantly, "I never want to see him again since after everything we've found out; he's not our father anymore."

Natalie couldn't agree more.

* * *

Natalie had to bite her lip to keep from smiling when they all trooped into her house to find her parents in the kitchen and the complete look of surprise on her dad's face at the sight of them, especially her and Zach. Really, he was smart enough to know that he and the government's lies would be found eventually, wasn't he?

"Mr. Anderson," began Will in they arrived, his voice deep and authoritative.

"Who the hell are you?" Peter interrupted instantly. "And what are you doing with two of my children?"

"We are an organization know as the Color Yellow," Toby replied coolly, "of which, your children are honorary members of." Here, Natalie and Zach shared a small smile.

"And we are here to arrest you," continued Will.

Pete scowled at the words. "Arrest me? For what? By who?"

"By an order from President Merkel, you and officers are under arrest for false imprisonment, murder, attempted murder and crimes against humanity," said Will as he moved around to Natalie's father and began placing handcuffs on him.

"Murder? Crimes against humanity? Peter, what's going on?" Caroline cried as Will began to lead her husband away. They were met by Cynthia in the hall who joined in the yelling, "What are you doing with my dad?!"

"Cynthia, it's okay," said Zach, hurrying over and holding her back as Will left with their dad. "Dad tried to kill that boy who used to work in our house, remember him?"

"Keith?!" cried Cynthia. "Dad tried to kill _Keith_?!" And when Zach nodded, she burst into tears and buried her face in his chest.

Once Will and Pete were gone, Toby had everyone move into the dining room where they sat around the table and he proceeded to explain to the exact nature of what Pete's job entailed. Caroline sat with her hands over her mouth and eyes wide in shock. A few times she looked as if she might cry, which Natalie couldn't blame her if she did.

"Are—are you telling me that my husband, the man I married, is responsible for the deaths of possibly,_ hundreds _of people?" she breathed when Toby had finished.

"Yes," said Toby softly.

Here, Caroline looked at Natalie, her eyes gleaming with unshed tears. "And that boy, who worked here for awhile, he was one of them?"

"Yes," said Natalie, "his name is Keith. And this afternoon, Dad tried to kill him."

"All because he had cancer?"

"Yes, well, that's part of the reason."

"Oh, god, and I was so mean to him! I had no idea!"

"And that's exactly what they wanted, Mrs. Anderson," said Toby gently. "They didn't want anyone to know because then it would create a huge panic. People would know, or at least think that the Plague wasn't really cured or that it was coming back."

"And what did happen to it? The Plague?"

"It died out a long time ago," Toby answered, "but the fear of it coming back was what kept the compounds and the Labs going."

Silence followed this explanation as Natalie's mom finally broke down. Instantly, Zach was on his feet and at her side, consoling her as best as he could. Hating the sight of her own mother crying, Natalie looked at Toby and asked, "So what do we do now?"

He gave her a small smile. "Well, I don't know about you but I'd really like to go see Keith."

* * *

The only time Natalie had been to a hospital was when Cynthia had broken her ankle while riding her bike and had to get a cast. Then, they had been in and out in a matter of hours and she really hadn't had a chance to look around. With everything that Keith had told about the Lab, Natalie had imagining a place like the compound except much more sinister and depressing. Although she wasn't exactly sure how anything _could_ be more depressing than the compound where Keith lived.

As such, she was very surprised when they arrived at what looked the same hospital where Cynthia had gotten her cast. The building in front of her was gray with at least ten stories and she could see other buildings branching out behind it. In front of the building, several members of the Color Yellow were guarded the entrance, machine guns held at the ready. As their party approached, they saluted Emma and Toby who asked, "Has everything gone according to plan?"

"Like clockwork, sir," answered one of the guards with a small, proud smile. "We have full control of the facility."

"Any try to resist?"

"Oh, of course, sir but we followed the President's orders and did not harm any of them. But, if I may say, sir it was all I could do to not bash any of their skulls in."

"Perfectly understandable but thank you for maintaining a sense of decency, unlike them," said Toby. Here, the guard raised his proudly and Toby led the way inside.

Like the outside, everything inside was either white or grey and would have been utterly depressing had the main entrance not been filled with more members of the Color Yellow. Except this time, instead of the black coats or uniforms, they were wearing simple blue shirts and pants with the same yellow Ys on the shoulders. After making inquiries at the front desk, Toby led Natalie and Zach to an elevator while Emma went off to see where her services were needed.

As they rode the elevator, Toby said, "I suppose you're wondering what went on here."

"Keith said that none of the inmates knew just that those who did come here never came back," Natalie answered.

"Yes, but there's more to that," said Toby, "and I'll tell you what after we see Keith."

At that moment, the doors opened. They had arrived at a long white hall with doors on either side. Natalie's heart thumped wildly with nervousness and worry. What would Keith look like? Would he be awake or on the verge of death? He _had_ taken a bullet to the chest and she realized that Toby had never told her how far in it had gone.

When they arrived, however, they found Keith lying in a small bed, propped up with pillows and various wires attached to him. He didn't see them enter as his head was turned to one side as an older man spoke softly to him.

"What are you doing here, Dad?" Toby asked.

The man looked up at the question, saw his son and immediately stood up and embraced him. "I came as soon as I got the call that a boy had been shot. Considering Keith's history in all of this, I figured there was a good chance that it was him," said Frank as he released Toby.

"How is he?" Natalie asked.

At this, Frank smiled. "Ask him yourself." And they looked expectantly at Keith who croaked out dryly. "Feelin' just chipper."

Natalie smiled at this and shakily walked over to him, leaned down and hugged him as tightly as she could. "Keith," she breathed into his ear. She wanted to say more but couldn't think of anything to say, she was so overcome with emotion over the fact that he wasn't dead.

When she released him, she sat down in the chair that Frank had been sitting in and gripped in Keith's hand in hers whereupon Frank spoke, "Thanks to Keith's makeshift bulletproof vest, the bullet struck his breast bone and did not even reach his heart. All that was left for us to do was repair the hole and replenish his blood cell count. Thankfully, the medics who brought him here were able to completely stop the bleeding by the time he arrived."

"So, he's gonna be okay?" Natalie asked.

"Well, there's still his cancer, but we'll cross that bridge when we get to get to it," said Frank. "Right now, he needs nutrients and rest."

Then, he gestured to his son and Zach and suggested, "I think we'll leave these two alone for awhile." Surprisingly to Natalie, Zach nodded in agreement and he flashed her a knowing smile before he left the room with Toby. When it was just Frank, Natalie and Keith in the room, Frank solemnly handed Keith an envelope saying, "One of our members found this in your file from when you were captured. I thought you might want it now, it might bring some comfort for the days ahead." Then, with a nod to Natalie, he turned and left the room, closing the door behind him.

When they were alone, Keith slowly opened the envelope and cried out when he pulled out what was inside. Natalie leaned forward and saw that it was a picture of him…and his parents.

They sitting on a couch and smiling happily into the camera. Keith's hand was shaking so bad that Natalie quickly took the picture from him and placed it on the little table beside the bed as Keith dissolved into tears. Natalie hugged him as she has when she first arrived and stroked his hair as he wept into her chest.

"I—I didn't cry wh—when they di—died," Keith choked out between sobs. "I—I c-couldn't cry."

"Why not?" Natalie asked softly.

"B-Because it…it was so—so fast and…and if you cried, you—you died," Keith gasped.

At this, Natalie lifted his head from her chest and cupped his face as he continued to cry. "Keith, what do you mean? What do you mean that you died if you cried?"

"They—They'd shoot you if—if they s-saw you cry," he stammered out. "It—It was a s-sign of w-we—weakness."

"Well, you can cry all you need to, Keith," Natalie assured him as she held him to her chest once more. "Because you are definitely _not _weak."

**Author's Note: Did you really think I was going to kill Keith after all he's been through? Heck no, there would be no story without him! **

**So, a nice mixture of suspense, drama, happiness and sadness there don't you think? Don't worry, more will be explained in the upcoming chapters. Hope you liked it and please review!**


	21. The Color Yellow

**Author's Note: I'm so sorry! I meant to get this up over the weekend but I was packing up my room then and it's finals week for me this week so I've had a lot of papers to write. I'm sure you've all been anxious to find out what happens so here is a nice, long chapter that will hopefully answer a lot of questions.**

**Special thanks to acciodanrad9 for her advice and encouragement on a specific section of this chapter. Hope you all enjoy and please review!**

_**Warning: contains mild torture.**_

Chapter 21

The Color Yellow

Long after his crying had ceased, Keith kept his head on Natalie's chest, letting her stroke his hair. It was so soothing that he almost fell asleep but he couldn't let that happen, he knew almost immediately, not yet.

Eventually, when he started to get a kink in his neck, he eased himself up and Natalie helped him get comfortable against the pillows. Once this was done, he immediately grabbed her hand and held against his chest. Then, he offered her a wan smile and said lightly, "You're stuck with me now, partner."

She ran her fingers through his hair with her free hand. "That's fine with me, Keith."

"Good."

They sat in silence after that. There didn't seem to anything to say or need to be said. A few times Keith felt his eyelids begin to drift close involuntarily and he would quickly shake himself awake. To distract himself, he turned his attention to Natalie's hand. It was different from his own, not only more feminine but in comparison to his own, it looked so…_healthy_. He had been so focused just daily survival while in the compound that he really hadn't paid much attention to his appearance, mainly because there were no mirrors in the compound. His stomach squirmed uncomfortably at the thought. He knew, of course that he was under weight, given the fact that he could see the bones in his hand but he didn't want to think of himself that way; as a starving skeleton. As a way to comfort himself from these thoughts, he brought Natalie's hand to his lips and kissed it.

As if taking this as her cue, she said softly. "Keith, you should get some sleep."

"No," he replied instantly.

"Why not? You look exhausted."

"So?" He released her hand as he glanced at her. "I'd rather be exhausted than the alternative."

"What's that?"

"Afraid."

"Of nightmares?"

"Uh-huh," he said, nodding. "I just know that once I close my eyes, everything will come back. Maybe even stuff that I've forgotten about it 'cause it was so bad."

She ran her fingers through his hair. "I'll be right here the whole time. You need to sleep, Keith, it'll help you get better."

"I know," he said with a heavy sigh. He kept his eyes locked on her face as he allowed his lids to drift close and he succumbed to sleep.

* * *

_He was walking along the main street of Lodlin, on his way to Andy's. He had a few hours before work and wanted to start the day off as positively as he could._

_And as always, he was hungry._

_Keith was lost in his thoughts, trying to ignore his growling stomach when a voice said, "See him, Sarah? He's one of Dad's prisoners." _

_Keith looked up to see a boy of about Billy's age and a girl who was not much younger, standing to one side of the street several feet in front of him. The boy was pointing at him as if he were some type of showpiece. Obviously their father was a soldier since they were wearing nice, clean clothes; the girl was even wearing a skirt. Keith had to wonder why they in the compound and where their father was since no one except soldiers were allowed inside. _

_He didn't have time to think about this as he noticed that the little girl—Sarah, was licking her hand and he wondered why until he realized that she was eating an ice cream cone…and his stomach growled louder at this realization. _

"_Uh-oh," said the boy, noticing Keith looking at them. "We gotta go."_

"_Why?" asked Sarah as she continued eating her ice cream._

" '_Cause he's got a disease and we could catch it," said her brother impatiently as he tugged on her arm. Sarah yanked her arm away and walked toward Keith. _

"_Sarah, c'mon!" yelled her brother. "He's nothin' but a gross rat!"_

_Still, Sarah ignored him and instead looked up at Keith and held out her cone to him, saying, "I don't like the cone. Would you like it? There's tons of ice cream on the bottom."_

_Keith gave her a small smile as he took it and bit into cautiously, fearing that a soldier would appear and snatch the simple gift from him._

_But none did and Sarah grinned up at him and whispered, "I don't think you're a gross rat. I think you look nice." Then, as her brother called for her again, Sarah turned and ran back to him but not before she turned and waved at Keith. He waved back as he stuffed the rest of the cone into his mouth. _

* * *

_It was Selection Day._

_The bright sunlight that shone down on the main square was extremely ironic in Keith's opinion. Selection Day was too cruel and depressing to be filled with sunshine. _

_At the moment, Keith was standing in a long line waiting to be "examined". His eyes never stopped moving as he looked for his friends in the many lines that seemed to merge together into one huge crowd. And as one, they were all very aware of the large train that waited to take those unlucky ones to an unknown fate. _

_It was only when he felt a tug on his arm that Keith's eyes stopped moving and he looked down to see Billy looking up at him, his eyes large with worry.  
_

"_Keith," he said in a small voice, "I'm scared."_

"_I know, bud," said Keith, putting an arm around Billy's thin shoulders comfortingly. _

"_What if you get put on the train and I don't? I don't want you to leave, Keith!" Billy cried. _

_It was obvious that this had been worrying his young friend for some time, so Keith crouched down in front of him and looked into his face seriously. "Billy, listen to me. If I go on the train, you're comin' with me. No matter what happens to either of us, we're gonna stick together, got it?"_

_Billy nodded, his eyes shimmering with unshed tears. At this, Keith drew him into a tight hug. "C'mon, bud, don't cry. Everything's gonna be okay. You're feelin' all right, right?"_

"_Yeah…but I'm really hungry."_

"_So am I, but other than that?"_

"_I'm okay."_

"_Good. You'll be okay."_

_Keith released Billy then, as the line began to shuffle forward. As they continued to move towards the front, however he kept a hand on his shoulder the entire time. _

_When they reached the front of the line, Keith was first and the soldier gave him the very blunt command of, "Strip." So Keith pulled off his shirt and pants, although unlike his arrival to the compound, he was allowed to keep his underwear on. Then, a large man approached them who looked like a doctor, although whether he was really a doctor, Keith didn't know. The doctor looked him over and then began a general examination; listening to his heart, breathing and having him perform various stretches. As he did them, he would sneak glances over at Billy who was a few feet away from him. He seemed to be doing all right, other than the fact that he looked like he was shaking. Keith hoped this was more in fear and nervousness rather than caused by an illness. Keith tried to concentrate on his own examination and not worry too much for Billy until he heard one of the soldiers mutter, "He's so thin."_

Well, who the hell do you think made us so thin? _Keith thought angrily._ You're the ones who starve us to death!

_Soon, the doctor nodded although it gave Keith no clue as to what his fate would be. He didn't have time to ponder this for long as a series of shrill whistles, a signal for the inmates start jogging around the square. This happened during every Selection Day; they were forced run in order for the weakest to be further weeded out. They were not told this of course because everyone knew it was the truth._

_As soon as the whistles blew, Keith grabbed Billy and together they joined the throng that was already running. He knew that he had to keep Billy with him while they ran. If he was too slow, he either be trampled or throw onto the train. _

_Billy didn't say anything until they had run about two laps when he began to gasp weakly. "Keith…I…I can't r-run anymore."_

"_You have…to, bud," Keith panted back. "You…You have to."_

"_I—I can't. I…I'm so tired."_

"_I…know…but, you have to."_

_Shortly after he said this, he felt Billy release his hand and he instantly turned around to grab him again but was swept away by those running behind him. Keith pushed his way out of the crowd and ran to his fallen friend who had somehow managed to crawl out of harm's way._

"_Billy!" Keith cried, collapsing beside him. "C'mon, bud, get up. We have to move."_

"_No," Billy moaned in reply. "I can't. I wanna sleep."_

_Fearing that this might mean that he wanted to die, Keith shook him hard. "C'mon, Billy, get up. We're almost done."_

_Billy didn't reply to this and before Keith could coax him anymore, he was yanked violently away from him as a soldier shouted, "Get back in line!"_

"_No, he's my friend!" Keith yelled angrily. How could they have no compassion? How could they be so cold?_

_This protest was met by a sharp kick in his stomach. Groaning and clutching his stomach, Keith staggered to his feet and joined in the still running crowd, praying that that wouldn't be the last time he would see Billy…_

* * *

_Meaningless whispers swirled around his ears as he stood against the wall of the large room, waiting to hear whether the right side or the left meant life or death. Keith tried not to wonder about this for too long and instead watched as the solider questioned the remaining arrivals. _

_Finally, the last person was sorted and those standing on the right side of the room were led through one door while his side, the left were led through another._

_They arrived at yet another large room where more soldiers were sitting at long tables, each with some type of sharp tool and a small jar in front of them. Keith and the others were ordered to sit in front of one the soldiers. Keith could feel himself shaking as he did so, knowing that whatever was going to happen was going to be extremely unpleasant. _

_And it was. _

_As soon as he was seated, the soldier across the table from him said, "Pull up your sleeve up to your shoulder, left side." Keith did so and instantly flinched as the soldier picked up the small tool which turned out to be scalpel. _

"_Wh—What are you doing?" Keith stammered as the soldier yanked his arm closer to him and placed the edge of the scalpel on his upper arm._

"_Giving you your number and if you hold still this won't hurt as much," the soldier snapped. He gripped Keith's arm so tightly that Keith gritted his teeth in pain and watched, wide-eyed as the scalpel descended toward his flesh._

_And he screamed. _

_It wasn't just a little pain like a scrape; it was as if the soldier meant to carve out his skin. The single cut was like a stab to his chest and Keith yelled again as the cutting continued. So much so that the soldier grabbed his shirt and forced his face into the table top in order to stifle his screams._

"_Please," Keith begged after a moment. "Please, stop. You're hurting me."_

"_That's the idea, boy," the soldier said from somewhere above him. "I told you that if you held still, it wouldn't hurt as much." _

_Keith said nothing to this, only squeezed his eyes shut from the pain as the cutting continued. _

_Eventually, it became too much and Keith reared back in an attempt to get away and force the soldier to stop but he was only pushed back onto the table by another soldier who said, "I'll hold 'im down, keep going."_

"_Thanks, he's been giving me a lot of trouble," the other replied._

"_You're hurting me!" Keith cried as another stab of pain shot through him. "Stop it! Stop it, it hurts!" _

"_Shut up, boy!" shouted the soldier who was holding him down. "You're only making things worse!"_

"_Stop hurting me!" Keith yelled. But as he yelled this, he heard a new voice call out, "Keith, no one's hurting you! We're trying to help you!"_

"_No, it hurts! Lemme go! Lemme go!" Keith yelled, struggling against the soldier restraining him. He couldn't see what else was going on; he had squeezed his eyes shut from the immense pain. _

"_He doesn't mean to, Keith! Wake up!" Another strange voice called out._

_He didn't know what they meant; all he knew was the pain which seemed to be intensifying._

"_NO! NO!" He yelled, thrashing his head wildly._

"_Keith, wake up! You have to wake up! Please, wake up!" _

Then, his eyes suddenly snapped open.

And found himself staring into the extremely worried faces of Natalie and Toby.

* * *

"P—Partner?" Keith gasped in confusion.

"Yes, Keith," she said, sighing relief. "I'm here. You're safe."

"Wha--? Where…?"

"You're at the Lab, Keith. Remember? You were shot," Toby informed him from where he stood on the left side of Keith's bed.

Keith looked at him for a few seconds as recognition slowly flowed into his brain. The scene that he had just been experiencing was all a nightmare, it had happened in the past. He had forgotten all about it.

"You were having a nightmare, Keith," said Toby as if to confirm Keith's own thoughts. "Or more accurately, a flashback and I'm sorry for adding to the realism of it. Your IV was low so I thought I'd change it while you were asleep." He added apologetically.

Keith was barely paying attention as he let his most recent nightmare play through his mind, as it was the most disturbing of the three. How could he have possibly forgotten one of the most painful things he had first experienced at the compound? Because it was so painful? Because he had wanted to forget?

Whatever the reason, it didn't matter. He had had a nightmare of it or "flashbacked" to it, meaning it had happened. And because it had happened, he knew that he could never forget his time in the compound.

Almost subconsciously, he slid his left arm out of his sleeve and looked down at his upper arm, near his shoulder.

And there it was, as clear as the day he had gotten it:

C311612

"Is that…?" Natalie began to ask.

"My tattoo," said Keith hollowly. "Everyone got one. It was so they could keep track of us and didn't have to learn all of our names. The C stands for cancer." He added quickly before he began to trace the numbers with his fingertip. He couldn't believe how…innocent they looked, as if he had chosen to get a real tattoo. He shivered at the memory of how painful it had been.

"Do they mean anything? The numbers?" Natalie asked softly, as if afraid that he would be upset at her for asking.

He stared down at them for a moment, considering her question. "Not at first," he answered finally, "but now that I think about it, they do represent something." He pointed to the first number, a three. "The three is me and my parents and how we were just your average family and then when they…died, it was just me." He pointed at the one. "And I was taken to the compound when I was sixteen." He moved on to the next one and six. "And even though I was with people like me there, I still felt so alone." Here he pointed at the one, "until I met you, partner." He finished pointing at the two and as he did so, he looked up and gave her a small, appreciative smile. In reply, she leaned forward and kissed him gently on the forehead.

Then, Keith leaned back against his pillows with a heavy sigh, more exhausted now than when he had first arrived.

"Keith," Toby spoke up then. "I'm going to give you a sedative to help you sleep since I'm sure your nightmares didn't help much."

He didn't answer to this and instead looked hopefully at Natalie. "Stay?" he whispered.

She gripped his hand tightly. "You don't even have to ask. I'm not going anywhere, Keith. Not without you, at least."

At this, Keith smiled as he felt his body relax as yet another needle was inserted into his skin. Except this time, soft welcoming sleep awaited him.

* * *

When he woke next, he noticed three things: one was that he had never so rested and refreshed before. The second was that he had absolutely no idea whether it was morning or evening and the third was that Natalie was no longer sitting next to him.

She was lying next to him.

Or at least, she had moved so that she was able to wrap an arm around him and his head was now tucked into her neck. While he was very comfortable around her at this point, this form an intimacy as innocent as it was, was still too much for him. So he began shaking her awake while simultaneously attempting to move her off of him. It took several minutes but eventually he roused her enough so that she was able to take in her surroundings and their position.

"Oh, Keith, I'm sorry!" she cried, quickly sitting up. "I didn't realize I'd fallen asleep."

"It's okay, I—I just wasn't expecting it," said Keith, realizing how logically, there was no other place for her to lie down in his room.

"And well, I wanted to know right away if you had another nightmare," said Natalie. "But I guess I should've remembered how…perceptive of touch you are."

A polite knock halted any reply from Keith and the two of them looked up as Toby poked his head into the room. "Oh, good, you're awake!" He exclaimed happily at seeing them. "Keith, how're you feeling?"

"Better," said Keith truthfully.

"What time is it?" Natalie asked.

"Almost nine the morning," said Toby and he smiled at their shocked looks, "Hey, you two have both had a busy few days. Anyway, you guys up for some visitors?"

"Visitors?" Keith repeated, confused as Toby opened the door wider to allow Natalie's family, minus her father, to enter the room.

"Mom!" Natalie cried, springing to her feet and hugging her fiercely. "Oh, my God, I'm so sorry!"

"Sorry?" said Caroline, "sorry for what?" She looked over Natalie's shoulder at Keith, adding. "It's me who should be sorry." She gently released her daughter and stepped over to his beside and before Keith could say anything, she sat down beside him and said, "I don't what else I can say other than how truly sorry I am. Please, believe me that I had no idea what my husband's job was. I just knew it was for the government and that I wasn't supposed to ask about it. None of us were." The pleading look in her eyes was almost too much for Keith to bear so he said, "You don't need to apologize. You didn't do anything wrong 'cause you just didn't know."

"But I still hurt you, maybe not physically but I still treated you like you didn't matter!" Caroline protested.

"Only because you thought you were supposed to," said Keith. "Listen, Mrs. Anderson, I'm not mad at you. If you want my forgiveness or somthin', okay, I forgive you. But really, it's your husband who did the real crime."

Natalie's mother nodded, looking very relieved. While Keith felt a bit uncomfortable with the whole thing so he looked up at Toby and asked, "So, Toby, what's up with this group you're part of?"

"The Color Yellow?"

"Yeah."

"Well," Toby began slowly as he stepped further into the room, "it's all thanks to Keith, really. After all doctors were banned from practicing from failure to effectively cure the Plague, we all formed secret groups to help those who had gone into hiding." He nodded to Keith as he spoke. "But then, after you guys contacted me on the radio," he continued, looking at Natalie and Zach, "my dad and I started trying to locate everyone that we knew who knew the truth and to form a huge group that would finally get the word out. The problem was weren't sure how to do it. Then, your writings started arriving, Keith. And we realized that _you_ were the only one who could really get the word out and realistically tell about everything that was really going on. So, we started typing up each of your stories." Here, he pulled from his pocket a piece of paper, the same shade of yellow as Natalie's ribbon that she had given him. The black type was stood out boldly against the bright background.

"I remembered your favorite color was yellow, Keith, so it only seemed right that we print your accounts on yellow paper and name our group after it," said Toby. "Plus, we knew it would attract attention." He handed the paper to Keith so he could see the product of all of those nights in Natalie's basement, writing away. He stared, completely shocked at the sheer simplicity of it and how it had changed his life for the better as Toby added, "It's all because of Keith. If not for your wanting to make a change and knowing more than anyone, how wrong the world was, none of this would've been possible."

At his words, Keith peered over the top of the paper at him and everyone else in the room. "No," he replied softly but firmly, "it's because of all of us."

**Author's Note: Well, there's the explanation for it all or at least the group that Toby is a part of. Hope you liked it and please review! Hopefully with school ending, I can update sooner next time which will feature Keith confronting Pete and Raff! Once again, let me know what you think!**


	22. A Single, Human Life

****

Author's Note: No, I haven't forgotten about this story! I procrastinated because this chapter features Pete's trial and I was worried about writing it for fear of getting some legal stuff wrong. But eventually, I just decided to write what I wanted to (along with some research) and hopefully you all like the end result.

**The section with Pete's trial was HIGHLY inspired by the amazing film, **_**Judgment at Nuremberg. **_**Yes, it is old and long but very intense and well acted, I was completely blown away by the power of it. I have taken some of the speeches from that film and reworked them into this chapter but nothing from **_**Judgment at Nuremberg**_** belongs to me. **

**Finally, I should warn that this chapter is the last chapter before the epilogue, so once again my apologizes for the lateness of this and please review!**

_**Warning: contains character death. **_

Chapter 22

A Single, Human Life

"I'm not going."

"Well, you can't stay here."

"Yes, I can. I can stay wherever Toby and his dad are. I can help them out with their patients."

"You're not a doctor, Natalie."

"So?"

"So, I don't see how you'll be much help."

Natalie glared at her mother. It had been almost three weeks since her mother had apologized to Keith and during that time, Natalie had spent as much as she could with him. His chest wound was healing nicely and he was getting stronger every day even with the limited amount of food that he was allowed to eat. Toby had explained that while he wanted nothing more than to give Keith a five course meal, too many healthy foods at once could kill him more than they would help him as his body had been deprived of so many nutrient-rich foods for so long.

Mentally, he seemed to be doing better as well. Granted, he still had nightmares from time to time and this was the main reason why Natalie did not want leave his side if she didn't have to; she wanted to be there whenever he was plagued by his memories. For she knew deep down, that she was his stability and solace throughout the whole ordeal. She didn't want to think about how he would have coped with his memories of the compound.

Now, while Keith was getting some tests done on the exact progression of his cancer, Natalie and her mother were standing in his room having their current argument.

"Natalie, do you honestly think that after learning what your father did, that I would want to live in that house anymore?" her mom asked.

"No."

"Exactly. Zach and I have already started looking for a house in our old neighborhood. We can start again, like none of this ever happened…as in, us moving to that other house," her mom added hastily at Natalie's venomous expression.

"What about Keith?" Natalie asked. "Don't you see that I love him?"

"Of course, I do," said Caroline gently. "I can see the way he looks at you that he loves you just as much as you say you love him. But, Natalie, there are enough people here to be looked after and I don't think the Color Yellow people need an extra and healthy person to keep track of."

_I_ _don't need to be looked after! I can take care of myself!_ Natalie wanted to scream at her but was kept from doing so by the arrival of Toby's father and Keith, who was looking a little tired and upset.

"What's wrong?" Natalie asked instantly at the sight of Keith's face.

"I gotta have more chemo," said Keith without preamble.

"Is his cancer that bad?" Natalie asked Frank.

"Well, it never went away in the first place," he replied. "It hasn't gotten any better but it hasn't gotten any worse either. But if Keith goes through full rounds of chemo, we should be able to eliminate it entirely."

"Really? That's great!" said Natalie, smiling.

"It's no fun though," said Keith, "no fun at all."

"Yes, but it's better than say, going back to Lodlin, isn't it?" asked Frank.

Keith considered this. "Yeah, it is. I'll definitely take chemo over going back there again."

"I thought as much," said Frank, smiling.

Keith was scheduled to begin chemo again that very afternoon. While he was being prepped for it, Natalie told about her mom's proposal of finding a new house in their old neighborhood.

"You do realize this means I'd have to leave for awhile," said Natalie when she finished.

"Uh-huh," said Keith, "and I want you to go."

"_What_?"

"You gotta take care of yourself, partner," he said gently. "You're with me all the time and I see tired you are all the time. Go be with your family, they need you too."

"But_ I_ need you too," she protested.

Keith pressed his lips together at this and squeezed her hand tightly. "I know, I need you too, but you need a break, Natalie. I've gone through chemo before and I can do it again. I ain't goin' anywhere." He added with a small smile.

"Well, if you're sure…"

"Yes," he said.

* * *

Despite Keith's wish for her to take a break and leave him, Natalie still had a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach as she got into her family's car with her mother and siblings, a few days later. She really didn't know all that chemotherapy entailed so what if something happened to Keith while she was away? She couldn't bear to lose him, not after nearly losing him thanks to her father.

As it turned out, her mother had already found a modest house for them to live in so they went straight there after leaving the Lab. The next few days were filled with the whirlwind of unpacking and trying to return to a sense of normalcy.

Normalcy for Natalie, however was impossible.

It wasn't just that she couldn't stop wondering about Keith and how he was doing but that she couldn't look at a complete stranger and not get angry over their ignorance. Didn't they know that some people were punished just because they were sick? Didn't they know that some people had died painful deaths just because they were considered "weak" and "useless"? Obviously there was some gossip as to the reason behind the sudden change in government but other than that there was no news released about the compounds.

There was one bright side to moving into their second new house which helped to ease Natalie's worries.

They had a phone and when they were living in their new house for a week, she received a very welcome call.

It was Cynthia who answered. Natalie was in the living room, reading when her sister bounded into the room, yelling excitedly. "Natalie! Natalie!"

"What?" she asked, looking up.

"It's Keith!" she yelled, nearly dropping the cordless phone in her excitement. Natalie snatched it up before she could do this and asked, "Keith?"

"Hey, partner," he replied.

"Oh my God, how are you? I've been so worried!"

"I'm doin' good, the chemo is hard but it's going well."

"Good. I'm sorry you have to go through it."

"Me too."

She could sense that something was bothering him by the tone of his voice so she asked, "Keith, are you sure you're okay?"

"Well…yeah, it's just I asked Toby what the Lab used to be like before his group took over…"

"Yeah…?"

"He said it was called the Lab because they…did tests…on people."

Natalie felt a shiver run down her spine. "What—What sort of tests?" she asked, knowing that she wasn't going to like the answer.

"Bad ones," said Keith. "Like, how long they could stand really cold or really hot water. How they reacted to different medicine even if it made their diseases worse. But Toby said, in the end their goal wasn't to treat them…obviously. It was to kill them."

Natalie gripped the phone tightly, she couldn't imagine such a place, much less Keith being forced to go there.

"Toby told me some other stuff they did to people, but I—I don't wanna think about it. It's just too painful, what I went through was bad enough."

"Don't think about what didn't or could've happened to you, Keith," Natalie advised.

"I won't, partner. Trust me."

Natalie was about to ask when she should come see him when she suddenly heard someone start talking to Keith on his end and then he yelled frantically, "_WHAT_? No, he couldn't have! NO!"

"Keith, what is it? What's wrong?" she asked into the phone.

"Partner, I—I gotta go. One of my…one of my friends just…died."

* * *

Natalie didn't how fast time could move. One minute she was talking to Keith on the phone, the next she was sprinting down a hallway in the Lab with Zach hot on her heels.

When she reached his room, she found that several people were already there. Natalie knew that they were patients at the Lab since they were wearing white pajama-like shirts and pants. Keith was lying in his bed sobbing audibly into Frank's shoulder. The people were gathered around Keith's bed and didn't even look up at Natalie's footsteps. Only Toby glanced up, saw her and Zach standing in the doorway and hurried over to them.

"Who was it?" Natalie whispered when he reached them.

"It was a boy named Andy," said Toby sadly. "We found him a few hours ago…hanging from the ceiling."

"He _hung_ himself?" Natalie gasped.

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Well, we think it's because that once we told him that his disease would never be fully cured, he felt that he didn't have any reason to live anymore," said Toby.

"But it's been a few weeks since everyone left the compound. Wouldn't you have known right away or something?"

"Natalie, we have hundreds of people to take care of, all with a wide range of diseases in various stages. Plus, there is the immense malnutrition to reverse before we can _think_ about diagnoses the disease that got them in the compound in the first place."

Natalie only nodded in understanding, mentally hitting herself for not realizing all of this sooner.

Then, Toby led them through the small group to Keith's bedside. Upon seeing her, Frank released Keith who immediately rolled over and his eyes seemed to shine with more tears at the sight of her.

"Partner," was all he could whisper before Natalie took him into her arms and combed her fingers through his hair comfortingly.

"I'm so sorry, Keith," she said sincerely. "I'm so sorry."

"I—I can't believe he would do that. I—I can't believe he's just…gone," Keith whimpered. "He—He was with me, r-right from the be—beginning. He—He was m-my friend."

Natalie said nothing because she could think of nothing to say that could possibly give him some level of comfort. She only hugged him tighter as he unleashed another set of tears of as he begged her, "Don't leave me again, partner. Please don't leave me."

"I won't, Keith," she promised. "I won't."

She made sure to stand by her promise. Especially now that Keith was forced to go through the grieving process again. She knew that she had to be there for him, if she wasn't it would feel like some sort of betrayal.

Slowly, the weeks that Keith spent in the Lab turned into months, with Natalie right beside him. On the days where Keith was feeling well enough from his chemo, they would walk the halls together, visiting some of Keith's friends from the compound. This, along with Natalie's presence seemed to help him heal faster from his grief over Andy's death. While he had his low moments, he also smiled a lot which couldn't have made Natalie happier.

During their visits, Keith's friends and neighbors told her stories of their lives in the compound. Their stories strengthened her disbelief at it all. She couldn't believe that some people could be so horrible to innocent people, believing that what they were doing was "right".

One day, almost four months after Keith had arrived at the Lab, the Scholls entered his room while they were eating lunch.

"Hey, guys, what's up?" said Keith at the sight of them. "Haven't seen you 'round this neck of the woods in awhile."

"We've been pretty busy, Keith," said Toby. "And we have something we want to ask you."

"You wanna know how I'm feelin', right?" Keith asked jokingly.

Frank chuckled and then said, "No, actually, we would like to ask you as the person who contacted us about the matter couldn't be here personally, if you would be willing to testify in an upcoming trial."

"What sort of trial?" Keith asked slowly.

"The trial of several of the men who were in charge of the compounds," said Toby, "which will include Natalie's father."

"My dad's gonna be on _trial_?" Natalie cried.

"Yes, you didn't expect him to go free, did you?" Frank asked.

"Well, no, of course not. It's just…wow."

"I'll have to talk about it," said Keith distantly. "I'll have to tell them everything about...what happened."

"It's possible that they will ask you direct questions about what happened," said Frank, "but, Keith, you _can_ refuse. You don't have to go."

"Is he even well enough?" Natalie asked. "When is the trial?"

"About a week from now," Frank told her, "and yes, with the success of the chemo, he is more than well enough."

They waited as Keith pondered his answer and finally, he said quietly but firmly. "I'll do it. I know it's gonna be hard, but…I gotta do it. I_ have_ to."

In fact, the very next day during another test to determine how much of the cancer remained, Frank announced that he did not see any evidence of it in Keith's body. While this was wonderful news, he still wasn't in remission so there was more of a chance that it could come back but at the moment Natalie and especially Keith, couldn't be happier.

"You know, partner," Keith remarked as they walked to his room after receiving the happy news. "I think this is honestly the happiest day of my life. I mean, sure getting out of the compound was good but I had a bullet in my chest and the cancer to worry about so I didn't really realize what all was happening. But now, I just…god, it's such a weird feeling, being _really_ happy."

"And I hope that feeling doesn't have to leave anytime soon," said Natalie as she kissed his cheek.

"As long as I'm with you, it won't," he replied.

* * *

But Keith's happiness did leave him. As the days leading up to the trial decreased, he seemed to smile less and less frequently. Natalie sense this was due to nervousness and she couldn't blame him. She was nervous too. She would have to watch her father stand trial for crimes that were beyond imagining and hear his fate, which could in turn mean that she would never see him again. But as she had known since the whole ordeal had started, he really wasn't her father anymore

Finally, the day of the trial arrived. Toby drove Natalie, her family and Keith (who was wearing dress clothes lent to him by Zach) to the town where it was being held. The courthouse was packed with people when they arrived and Keith gripped Natalie's hand tightly as they weaved their way through the crowd after having been told the correct courtroom to go to. When they got there, however, they barely had time to exchange any words before a bailiff arrived to take Keith to where he was stay until he was called to take the stand.

"It's going to be okay, Keith," Natalie assured him before he was led away. "I'll be the audience, watching, just look for me."

Keith, white-faced and trembling only nodded in reply.

When he was gone, Natalie and the others only to wait about ten minutes before they were allowed to enter the courtroom.

Natalie could only imagine what would happen inside.

Having never been inside a courtroom before, Natalie couldn't help but stare at the large room. It was a dark-paneled room with burgundy carpeting on the floor. She saw her father seated against the left wall, along with three other men near a large high desk where she assumed witness gave their testimonies. On her right were three older men in black robes whom she assumed were the judges.

Their small party was instructed to sit in the first row of chairs behind a short wooden railing, in front of which was a table where a brown-haired man in a grey suit was sitting, hunched over. When everyone was seated and quiet, a uniformed man rose and announced, "The Tribunal is now in session, will the prosecutor, Edward Lawson please make the opening statement."

The brown-haired man sitting in front of where Natalie was sitting, stood and walked up to the high desk. There, he turned around to face the audience.

"The case is unusual," he began, "in that the defendants are charged with crimes committed in the name of the law. They are being brought to trial today because such laws no longer apply to them or to anyone else. They were the tools that assisted in distorting, perverting and destroying justice and peace to hundreds of people!" His voice rose angrily as he spoke. "Now this is itself, a great crime but the prosecution is not calling for them to account for violations of certain constitutional laws. The prosecution is calling them into account…for _murder_!" Here he spun to face the four accused men. He looked as though it was taking all of his control to keep from shouting and flinging himself at them in anger. Natalie couldn't blame him, she was angry too. "Brutalities!" the prosecutor yelled. "Torture and atrocities! While their minds might have been warped by the fear felt by the former government over a historical plague, it was the power of their positions that kept them from realizing their crimes. Their horrible, _malignant_ and _devastating_ crimes!" He turned back around to face the audience, blowing out a deep breath as he did so. "Now, we are fully aware of the reality of their crimes and here they will receive the justice they deserve."

When Mr. Lawson took his seat, the defense on the left side of the room, took his place to make his own opening speech. Natalie barely listened to his speech, she was so floored by the power and emotion of Mr. Lawson's. She was also nervous for Keith and was anxious for him to appear.

It seemed that the court was not ready to bring Keith out, she thought this was rather strange since he was all the evidence they needed as to her father's guilt. Other people had been involved with the former government were questioned on their roles as well as seemingly ordinary people whose neighbors had suddenly "disappeared". As she watched and listened, she learned that the three other men seated with her father were also in charge of other compounds like him. She also noted a definite difference in style of questioning between the prosecutor, Mr. Lawson and the defense, Mr. Rolfe. Mr. Lawson posed his questions with (at least to Natalie) a sense of the witness' feelings and did not probe them for more information than he needed while Mr. Rolfe seemed to demand answers from the witnesses, his voice rising harshly to get them what he wanted them to say.

The difference between the two men became even more apparent when Keith took the stand.

It was after two hours of questions that one of the judges, a white-haired man with glasses said, "Mr. Lawson, you may call your next witness."

"Thank you, Your Honor," said Mr. Lawson. "I should like to call to the stand someone who I believe, can give us a deeply personal perspective on the roles of these four men on trial. I call Keith Zetterstrom to the stand, former inmate of Lodlin Quarantine Compound."

The wave of murmurs rose up from the audience at Mr. Lawson's announcement. Natalie clasped her hands together in nervousness as Keith was brought out through a side and seated in the chair on the right hand side, facing Mr. Lawson.

Natalie could see the sheen of sweat on his face but he sat straight up in his chair as he faced the crowd. Although when his eyes found hers, she saw him visibly relax a little.

Once Keith was sworn in, Mr. Lawson approached him and asked simply. "How old are you, Mr. Zetterstrom?"

"Seventeen, sir and you can call me Keith," Keith replied.

"And you may call me, Mr. Lawson," answered the prosecutor with a slight smile. "Now, Keith, how long did you live at the Lodlin compound?"

"A year and a few months."

"So, you were sixteen when you arrived?"

"Yes, si—er, Mr. Lawson."

"And what disease was it that forced you to go there?"

"Cancer."

"Did your parents go with you to the compound?"

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because…because they were shot."

Murmurs once again rose up from the audience. When they had dissipated, Mr. Lawson said, "Keith, could you perhaps tell the Tribunal and the members of this courtroom the…circumstances in which all of this occurred?"

"Yes, I'll tell you everything," said Keith in a, at least to Natalie surprising amount of confidence. "Because you need to know."

Then, he began to tell the story that Natalie knew all too well. How he had found that he had cancer and how he had hidden in his own house for two years before he was discovered and sent to Lodlin. He described the awful living conditions and horrible things that went on there, including witnessing people shot before his eyes. Natalie mentally applauded him for managing so strong and kept together as well as he did while he spoke. She knew that if she were the one up there, she would've broken down halfway through the story.

When Keith was finished, there were a few moments of silence before Mr. Lawson said quietly, "Thank you, Keith. I have no more questions." With that, he took his seat and when Mr. Rolfe took his place, the first question he asked was one that none in the courtroom was expecting.

"What is your relationship with Mr. Anderson's daughter?"

Keith's eyebrows shot up to his hairline at the question while Natalie perked instantly at this sudden (and very personal) question.

"I—what?" What does that have to do with anything?" Keith asked in reply, completely shocked.

"Answer the question, Mr. Zetterstrom," the defense replied smoothly.

"She—She's my girlfriend. I love her," said Keith."

"You _love_ her?" Rolfe repeated. "Interesting…you are aware that she is the daughter of the man who was in charge of your compound?"

"Yes. Very."

"So, then how did you—"

"Objection!" shouted Mr. Lawson, interrupting Rolfe's question. "Your Honors, pertinence to the case?"

"Sustained," replied the white-haired judge. "Mr. Rolfe, if you wish to continue questioning the witness, please keep your questions in connection to the case. Not the witness's personal affairs." He said firmly to the defense.

"But, Your Honor, the witness is in a relationship with Mr. Anderson's daughter who—"

"If I may remind you, Mr. Rolfe that Mr. Anderson no longer holds any sort of position of authority over Mr. Zetterstrom so if you are trying to build a line of questions around this information, it will not make the slightest difference in our final decision," said the judge coldly. "Or serve any purpose other than to anger the witness which is not our intent in this trial, is it not?"

"Yes, Your Honor," Mr. Rolfe replied, rather reluctantly. "My apologies."

"You may proceed."

Yet when Rolfe turned back to face Keith, his question was just as personal if not more. "How do we _know_ that you actually lived in the Lodline Quarantine Compound?"

Surprisingly to Natalie, Keith only glowered at the defense. "How do you know that I was there?" He repeated dangerously as he leaned forward in his chair and gripped the edge of the desk. "How do you know? You know by _this_!" With hundreds of eyes watching him, he pulled off his shirt to reveal the scar on his chest left from his bullet wound and his tattoo. "Look at me, all of you!" Keith commanded the court. "Look at me! These numbers on my arm are a tattoo that I got when I came to Lodlin. I did_ not_ put them there myself! I was held down by a solider while another one carved the numbers into my skin, with a scalpel." He then pointed to the scar on his chest. "This is from a bullet that was fired when _that_ man," and he pointed a damning finger at Natalie's father, "tried to kill me."

At Keith's words, the room swelled with conversation at this piece of news. The talk grew so loud that one of the judges banged his gavel to restore silence. When it was quiet again, the only thing he said was, "The court will recess until further notice."

* * *

Natalie was kept from running up to hug Keith at the judge's announcement because he was led back through the door that he entered before she could even get up from her seat. Instead, she was forced to converse with her family and Toby for next few minutes.

"Keith was last witness," Toby informed her. "He had to be, he was the only one who was personally connected to all of this. The judges have probably gone to decide the verdict now."

"How do you think it'll take?" Natalie asked.

"Who knows?" said Toby with a shrug. "Although with all the evidence against your father and the others, it shouldn't take too long."

Unfortunately, he was wrong about that.

It was nearly three hours later that the court was called back into session.

As she followed her mother to take her original seat, Natalie was surprised and automatically overjoyed to see Keith sitting in their row. She sat down beside him, he immediately grabbed her hands in his and kissed her on the cheek. Then, hands clasped in each others, they stood as the three judges entered the room and took their seats. When everyone else was seated, the white-haired judge began to speak.

"Throughout the process of this trial and the evidence given, it has been shown the depth of extremities that a group of people are willing to descend to in order to attain so called "perfection" within their lives. It has also shown how far they are willing to go in order to preserve that perfection by declaring others to be "imperfect". Above all, this trial has shown that under the stress of a national crisis, even one that has been added to over time, men—even able and extraordinary—men can delude themselves into the commission of crimes and atrocities so vast and heinous as to stagger the imagination. No one who has sat through this trial can ever forget. That is why we find the four accused men before us…guilty of all charges and that they be sentenced a maximum of seventy years in prison. While they may not have stood for justice and truth, before the people of the world, let it be known in our decision here that this is what _we _stand for in light of the crimes that have been revealed to us. Let it be known that we stand for justice, truth." Here, he paused and directed his gaze to lock with Keith's before he finished, "and the value of a single, human life."

* * *

When Natalie was finally able to take Keith's hand, amongst all of the cheering and hugging at the conclusion of the trial and its verdict, it was he who led her out of the courtroom and down the corridor. He didn't stop until they had rounded the corner and were out of sight.

Now that they were alone, he leaned up against the cool wall and rested his forehead against hers and sighed heavily. It was as if all of his stress, worries and pain that he had bottled up over the past months and years were inside it and now with the culmination of the trial, he could finally be free of it all.

"It's over, Keith," Natalie whispered. "It's all over."

"No, partner," he replied sadly. "It's not all over. Not yet."

"What do you mean?"

"There are still some things I gotta do and not all of them are exactly happy."

She smiled. "Then, I think you do the happiest one first." She felt rather than saw Keith smile at this, and slowly and tenderly his arms snaked around her waist, pressing her against him. Instantly, she buried her face into his chest as he nuzzled her neck and whispered, "When I was standing up on that platform, I thought only of you. I wanted your face to be the last thing I saw." Then, much to Natalie's displeasure, he eased himself out of their embrace but only enough so that their noses were touching. "Thankfully, that didn't happen and now I feel confident enough to do this."

With that, he kissed her.

Although it was wonderful in its unexpectedness, Natalie still sensed restraint from him, as if he still felt like he shouldn't or couldn't kiss her. To ease his doubts, she brought her hands up to caress his face and hair. It worked. She felt his body relax even more than it had after his heavy, burden-lifting sigh. As such, he deepened the kiss and the two of them melted together in their secure embrace.

"Natalie," Keith gasped when they parted for want of oxygen. "Why are you so—?" He started to ask but stopped and his grip on her suddenly tightened protectively. "What are _you_ doing here?" he asked to someone over Natalie's shoulder. His voice had an edge to it that she had never heard before.

"I wanted to talk to Natalie," said a voice which Natalie recognized instantly and she broke out the circle of Keith's arms to face…Raff.

"Whatever you have to say to me, you can say in front of Keith," she said firmly, before Raff could even open his mouth. "He's not someone you can just order around anymore."

Raff, surprised at her direct tone gave a tiny nod and said, "I just wanted to tell you that…I'm sorry for what I did. Lying to you and everything but you have to understand that I-I didn't have a choice."

"Yes, you did," Natalie snapped. "You could've chosen to do what you _knew_ was right all along. You could've resisted. You could've stood up and done something to—"

"I could've been you," said Raff softly. "I could've been _both_ of you," he added, directing his gaze at Keith. He stepped around Natalie to better stand in front of him and Natalie felt Keith's arms slip reluctantly away from her waist. Quickly, Natalie stepped aside and immediately Keith and Raff met each other's gaze.

"I've come to…to tell you that I'm—I'm sorry for what I did to you," said Raff, swallowing nervously. Natalie was privately glad to see him like this; all nervous and seemingly a little scared. It gave him a taste of what she was sure Keith felt whenever he encountered Raff.

"It was wrong, I know," Raff continued. "I mean, we're practically the same age and I was treating you…" He let his voice trail off, unable to come up with an insult.

"Like shit," Keith filled in. "You treated me like I was a worthless piece of shit. You made me _feel_ like a worthless piece of shit. You didn't think it was wrong, you thought it was right, _didn't you_?" He ended, spitting out the last words spitefully.

"I—yes, I did," Raff admitted, "but with everything that happened in the trial just now, everything that you said…I didn't realize how it had affected you."

"Obviously," said Keith, but only loud enough for Natalie to hear. Then, he folded his arms across his chest and gave Raff such an intense glare that Natalie was sure he was shaking in his boots and she smiled happily at the thought.

But just as soon as he began to glare at him, Keith dropped his arms to his side and looked down at his loaned shoes, his body language radiating shame.

"This is wrong," said Keith after several long seconds. "This is all wrong. I'm the one who should be sorry." He raised his head at this and opened his mouth to continue when Natalie stepped in front of him, crying. "Keith! What are you saying? Raff and my dad are the ones who should be sorry! Hell, they should beg you and everyone else from the compound for forgiveness. You have _nothing_ to apologize for!"

"Yes, I do, Natalie," Keith whispered and he kissed her quickly on the lips before he gently moved her aside to face Raff again.

"I'm sorry," Keith began, "for acting like you just now." Natalie was sure that the complete look of surprise on Raff's face matched her own at Keith's words. "Since you're the person that I want to be the _least_ like," Keith added. He paused, took a deep breath and then continued firmly. "I never want to see you again, but I hope you always see my face from the night you beat outside Natalie's house." He held Raff's gaze for a moment more before he brushed past him, walked down the hall and disappeared around the corner.

When he was gone, Natalie looked at Raff. There were a mixture of emotions on his face, but the one most of all that Natalie could make out was sheer bewilderment and perhaps she was imagining it, regret.

Finally, she spoke. "His face. What did it look like on that night?"

Raff jumped a little at her voice. "Well," he began, his voice cracking. Quickly, he cleared his throat and said, "After I…did what I did to him…he was lying on the ground. I was going to hit him again when he sat up, looked me right in the eye and his face was full of…"

"What?" Natalie snapped at his hesitation. "_What_?"

"Pain," Raff breathed out in a voice just above a whisper, "and pity…for me."

* * *

Natalie left Raff standing in the hall soon after that. She didn't say one word to him. She didn't need or want to. Like Keith, she didn't want to ever see or speak to Raff again. No matter how much he tried to apologize, she knew the truth, the real and horrible truth.

Keith was waiting for her back at the entrance to the courtroom, along with the last person that Natalie wanted to see.

Her father.

Rational thought left her at the sight of him and she charged at him, screaming at the top of her lungs. "Get AWAY from HIM! Go away! I never want to see you again EVER!" She reached him sooner than she thought and would have attacked him in some way had Keith not grabbed her around the waist and pulled her away.

"Natalie, Natalie, relax," Keith smoothed in her ear. "Just calm down. It's okay."

"How can you even look at him?" Natalie cried in disbelief at his calm manner. "He tried to_ kill_ you!"

"Natalie, I—" She heard her dad begin.

"SHUT UP!" she shouted, whirling around to face him. "Don't even_ try_ to explain yourself to me! I know what you did. All of it. You beat people. _Innocent_ people. As far as I know, you're not my dad. The man who was my father would _never_ hurt _anyone_ for any reason! I don't care what happens to you…because I don't even know who you are now." She finished softly. Then, without looking to gauge his reaction to her crushing words, she moved aside as she had done before, to watch the confrontation that unfolded.

A pregnant silence filled the corridor after. Keith's face was as blank as the wall behind and Natalie wondered what he could possibly want to say to the man in front of him. But it wasn't him who spoke first.

"You did well on the stand," Peter said finally. His voice was flat observant. "Most people like you would've broken down halfway through, probably."

"I'm not like most people," Keith replied coolly.

Pete chuckled darkly and then said, "No, you definitely are not…You do realized that you've cost me my job, my family and my life, right?"

"Yes," said Keith as if they were merely discussing the weather, "but I've had a lot of time think about what I went through…thanks to people like you and I've realized a few things."

"And they are?" Pete asked, sounding amused. So much so that Natalie could've slapped him but she resisted to hear Keith's reply.

"That you hid behind your job," Keith answered. "It gave you authority, power. Power I don't think anyone really knows what to do with once they've got it. But now," Here he took a step closer to Natalie's father and stared straight into his eyes, "you're just a man. A poor, beaten man who has nothing left. Your own daughter doesn't love you because she doesn't know you anymore. Because, like she said the man she thought she knew would never hurt anyone. You aren't that man to her."

Silence filled the hallway again as Keith let his words sink in, during which Natalie's dad did not break eye contact with him. Eventually, when it appeared that he wasn't going to reply, Keith delivered his final crushing blow. "I'm that man to her now. I'm the one that she loves. And I hope you realize that neither of us want to see or speak to you ever again."

Then, without another word, he turned and began walking down the hall, away from Pete. Taking this as her cue, Natalie hurried after him and did not even glance back at her father. When she caught up, she immediately grabbed hold of his hand and was surprised when Keith squeezed it affectionately. They had only gone a few feet when Natalie's dad called out, "You should know that when I first started out as a recruit. I didn't know it would come to that…all those people, the compounds, the Labs. I didn't know what I was getting into, really."

Keith had stopped dead in his tracks the moment Pete had called out to them. Now, he turned slowly around to face him and said icily. "Yes, you did know, Mr. Anderson. You knew the moment you arrested, someone whose only crime was having an illness that they didn't choose to get."

It was at these words that Pete's face split into one of surprise and shock. Keith gave him one last hard look before he turned and continued walking down the hall with Natalie beside him.

* * *

Natalie was momentarily blinded when she and Keith finally stepped outside the court house ten minutes later. The sun was shining brightly and the sky was a clear, deep blue. The beauty of the day seemed very appropriate with the conclusion of the long and tense trial.

They walked down the steps, hand in hand. Neither of them spoke until they reached a small bench near the court house and sat down. There, they simultaneously looked at each other and smiled.

"Now, it's over, Natalie," said Keith. "Now, I can move on."

"But, we can't forget, Keith," Natalie reminded him.

"No, we can't, not fully," he agreed as he pulled her into his chest. "My tattoo might remind me, but if I hadn't gone to the compound, as bad as it was, I would've never met you." He added softly.

Natalie said nothing to this, not wanting to think that if certain events hadn't happened that she would've never met Keith. So, she only hugged tightly while he stroked her hair.

They sat together on the bench for a long time after that, wrapped in each other's embrace. They didn't care if anyone saw them because they would only see two young people who were in love.

And nothing more.

**Author's Note: Well, that's the end of the one of the longest (and more dramatic) chapters I've written in the shortest amount of time. I hope you liked it and please review!**


	23. Epilogue: The Sky's the Limit

**Author's Note: *sigh I can never seem to update within a reasonable amount of time, can I? Well, at least for this epilogue I have legitimate excuses: I was on vacation in Boston and then had to get ready for school. Also, this is the last chapter and I was sad to finally have to end this story. **

**So, without further adieu here is the epilogue to The Color Yellow! Hope you can enjoy and please review!**

Epilogue:

The Sky's the Limit

"This can't be real," Keith declared. "It just _can't_. I think I'm in heaven."

He and Natalie were standing in her family's kitchen where every available counter space had been covered with food. It was now April, nearly a year since Natalie had learned that she was moving to "the country". This particular day also happened to be Keith's birthday, but he wasn't expecting anything special as he wasn't even sure Natalie knew when his birthday was. The real occasion for the day, as Natalie and her mom had decided was a sort of reunion as well as a celebration of those who has survived the compounds and to remember those who had not.

As for food there were several different kinds of pasta dishes along with fruit and vegetable trays, fried chicken, turkey, mashed potatoes and macaroni and cheese (specifically requested by Cynthia). Keith could see his own request (Caroline's homemade chocolate chip cookies) among the various desserts.

"It's all real, Keith. Trust me," said Natalie. He felt her take his hand and squeeze it affectionately. "Since we're having so many people, my mom wanted to make we had enough food."

"Oh, I think she's got the food department covered," said Keith. He couldn't remember the last time he had seen so much food in one place.

He continued to stare at the vast array of food until the doorbell rang whereupon Natalie dragged him away to answer it.

"Is that fried chicken I smell?" Markus asked the moment Natalie opened the door to reveal him, Rachel and Rachel's parents.

"It sure is," said Keith as he clapped his friend on the back. "Go into the kitchen, you're gonna freak."

"Awesome," said Markus, hurrying off in the direction that Natalie pointed.

As the rest of Natalie's family appeared from setting up tables outside to greet Rachel and her parents, they heard Markus yell. "Oh my God, they have_ butter_!"

"And lots of it!" Keith yelled back.

"Hey, Natalie, where's the You-Know-What?" Markus asked as he came out into the front room again.

"It's in the fridge," Natalie told him while Keith looked at her questioningly. "And don't worry, Mark, my mom made you your own sugarless piece."

"_Really_?" Markus breathed, completely surprised.

"Yup."

At this, he hugged her and then bounded off to talk to Zach. When he was gone, Keith looked at her and asked, "Partner, what's the You-Know-What?"

She only gave him a knowing smile and replied. "You'll find out soon enough, Keith."

Then, without another word she went off to help in the kitchen.

Although Keith couldn't stand not knowing what his best friend and girlfriend were planning, he soon forgot about it as Toby and his parents arrived, along with Kevin, Kurt and Billy. When he saw him, Billy flung himself into Keith's arms, nearly knocking him down onto the floor.

"Well," said Keith with a grin once he had regained his footing and set Billy down on the floor, "looks like you didn't miss me at all."

"Yes, I did!" Billy cried, not getting Keith's sarcasm. "There was no one to talk at that stupid hospital 'cept for the Color Yellow people and they were busy most of the time."

"It was a joke, bud," said Keith, ruffling Billy's hair.

"Oh. Okay."

Like Keith, Billy had been successfully gone through rounds of chemo to finally be cured of his cancer. Unlike Keith however, Billy had no family or friends outside of the compound to claim him. So the hospital had created a special ward for those who had nowhere to go outside of it. This was where Billy had stayed after he had been cured and although he couldn't remain there forever, it was a huge improvement over where he had lived before.

Soon after everyone had arrived, Caroline announced that they were more than ready to start eating. She barely had time to get out of the way as Keith, Billy, Kurt and Markus all raced toward the kitchen at the exact same moment.

As he moved along all the counters full of food, Keith soon realized that his plate wasn't big enough to fit all of it. To compensate, he began piling smaller portions of food right on top of others. When his plate was more than filled and he was making his way out to Natalie's backyard when she commented with a laugh. "Keith! You can get another plate, you know!"

"I _can_?" he asked, amazed.

"Yes!" she giggled. "Here, I'll get you one."

Five minutes later with nearly three plates of food in front of him, Keith sat down next to Natalie at tables that had been set up in her backyard.

"Jeez, who's eating all of that?" Zach asked, pointing at Keith's food.

"Me," said Keith as he tore into a piece of fried chicken.

"How the hell are you gonna eat all that?" said Zach.

"Hopefully very slowly," said Natalie, "so he doesn't make himself sick."

"I bettcha that he does," said Markus from where he sat next to Zach. "Considering that I can't remember the last time I ate half of this stuff, I plan to eat as much as I want."

"Go right ahead, Mark," said Natalie. "It's your stomach."

"Thank you, Natalie," he replied happily.

As the meal progressed, Keith only half listened to the conversations that were going on around him as he concentrated on eating his large meal. While he didn't shovel everything down his throat at once, he didn't exactly take his time either. But everything was so good that with clear memories of his constant hunger in the compound, he wanted to make sure to abolish that feeling forever.

And so with this thought in mind, he somehow managed to eat nearly all of the food on his three plates. When he was finished, he stacked them up and then leaned back his chair with a heavy, contented sigh.

"Full yet?" Natalie asked.

"Yup," said Keith as he kissed her cheek. "I'm stuffed."

"Good, I was worried that you were gonna explode or something."

"Nah," said Keith, shaking his head. "Not me."

Now that he had finished his gorging, Keith listened as Frank told them about a new building project that the Color Yellow was setting up. The project was going to build new homes in and around the town that the Lodlin compound had been situated near.

"Many of inmates have informed us that their houses were looted and then burned after they were discovered to be 'imperfect'," Frank explained. "Since they have no place to go and have formed close friendships with those who shared in their experiences, they have chosen to stay in that area."

"We've applied for a house there," Rachel's mother spoke up then. "Everyone in town is very welcoming and helpful."

More discussion of the project followed after that and while Keith listened attentively at first, he couldn't help but shift his attention to his stomach which was churning and groaning in protest at digesting all of the food he had eaten. He tried to ignore it but soon felt a sharp pain in his abdomen and then to his horror, felt bile rise in his throat.

"Keith, are you all right?" He heard Natalie ask, her voice sounding distant.

He licked his dry lips as he felt his stomach lurch painfully. "I—I feel like I'm gonna puke," he managed to croak.

"Shit," he heard Natalie swear before she grabbed his hand, pulled him to his feet and dragged him into her house. There, she all but pushed him into a nearby bathroom. The moment she had closed the door behind her, the contents of Keith's stomach surged up his throat and he gratefully emptied them into the toilet. He was only able to gulp down a few lungfulls of air before he vomited a second time.

Panting heavily, Keith quickly flushed the toilet and then sat back against the wall with a groan. He was only sitting there for a few seconds before a soft knock came at the door and Natalie asked, "Keith, can I come in?"

"Uh-huh," he croaked out in reply. He didn't look up as she entered but soon a cup of water came into his field of vision.

"Here," she said. "This should help."

"Thanks," he murmured. He drank it slowly, occasionally swishing it around his mouth to rinse it. When he finished, Natalie asked. "Feel better."

"Yeah, much better."

"You need to eat slower next time…or don't take as much food," she scolded lightly.

"Yeah, definitely," Keith agreed, "but I told you this would happen, partner."

"You did?"

"Uh-huh. You asked me once what I wanted to do after I got out of the compound and I _clearly_ remembering saying something like, 'I'm gonna eat so much food, I'll make myself puke'!"

She laughed at that and then said, "Well, I'd say you've accomplished that, for what it's worth."

Keith nodded in agreement. "Oh, yeah, this was definitely a vomiting episode that was worth it."

Although he felt considerably better, his stomach still felt a bit queasy so Keith was glad to return to the table outside and relax.

After everyone asked if he was feeling better, Keith took his seat and had just started talking with Markus and Rachel when Cynthia asked, suddenly. "Does this mean you don't your cake?"

"Cynthia!" Natalie yelled. "That was _supposed_ to be a surprise."

"Sorry!"

"Surprise?" Keith asked, perking up instantly.

But Natalie just shook her head and instead looked at her mother. "Should I tell him, Mom?"

"Go ahead, Nat," she replied with a smile.

Keith, who had been looking from Natalie to her mother in confusion, now faced Natalie expectantly. She took a deep breath and then said. "The thing is, Keith, this little get together wasn't just for a reunion but to celebrate your birthday."

Keith stared at her, completely shocked. "My…_birthday_?" He finally managed to gasp.

"Yep," said Natalie, smiling.

"How did you know?"

"A little bird told me," Natalie answered while simultaneously looking over at Markus, who grinned widely.

"Hey, gimme a break. It was too good not to bring it up and besides, did you honestly think you'd get to be eighteen?" He questioned as Keith fixed him with a cold glare.

At his friend's words, Keith's face relaxed and he realized that he was right. Not only because of his life in the compound, but his cancer had left him wondering many times late at night, how long he would be in the world. There were hundreds of moments where he could've lost his life but he hadn't and so the fact that he had made it be eighteen was simply, amazing.

He was snapped back to reality by the arrival of Natalie's mother with his cake. When she had placed it in front of him, she added exactly eighteen candles, lit them and then instructed, "Make a wish, Keith."

He stared at the flickering candles for a long minute, wondering what he could possibly wish for that he didn't already have. He was free of his cancer, he loved an amazing girl who had kept him going in the compound despite how horrible it was and he was surrounded by people who meant more to him than he could ever express.

And so, as he blew out his candles, he wished for the only thing that he could possibly want.

For his (and his friends') happiness to never end.

* * *

The cake was a yellow cake with chocolate frosting and despite his better judgment, Keith had a small piece and made sure to eat it slowly and enjoy it instead of scarfing it all down at once.

When everyone had finished eating their cake, Natalie announced. "Now it's time for your presents, Keith."

"Presents?" Keith repeated. "But you already gave me cake!"

"C'mon, eighteen's a big year. You didn't think you were just gettin' cake, did you?" Zach asked.

"Well, I—"

But Zach held up his hand to silence him. "Just hang on, man and I'll go get 'em." With that, he got up from the table and ran back into the house. He returned not five minutes later carrying two packages wrapped in blue paper. After he laid them in front Keith, he took his seat across from him and then, along with everyone else waited for him to open them.

But Keith could only stare in amazement and stroked the shiny paper with his fingertip. He couldn't remember the last time he had received a present, at least one that was specifically meant for his birthday.

"So, like with the cake, are you just gonna stare at them all day?" Markus asked, breaking the silence.

"No, I—I just don't know which one to open first," Keith half-lied. Because in reality, he didn't really care what was in them, just what they represented was enough: that people cared about him and wanted him to be happy.

"I think you should open the bigger one first," said Natalie. "Since, I mean, I picked it out." She added sheepishly.

"Then, I'll defiantly open that one first," said Keith, moving the smaller rectangular package aside to the thinner rectangular one underneath it. This one was much heavier and Keith slowly tore the wrapping paper off in fear that he would drop it.

Inside was a thin black box. Keith noted a small tab on the front of it and once he pulled this, the top of the box opened to reveal…

"Natalie," he whispered, "is this a…_laptop_?"

"Yup," she replied. "Now you get any information you want whenever you want. Nothing's going to keep you from knowing anything about the world anymore."

Keith ran his fingers lightly over the keyboard as he took in her words. Now, after a year of knowing nothing of the outside world, he could read the most recent (and correct) news without any consequences.

Still in awe at such a generous gift, Keith carefully laid the laptop aside and then turned his attention to the smaller present. Unlike the laptop, he unwrapped it much more quickly and found that it was a camera.

"That's from me and my family," Toby spoke up as Keith examined it. "We figured it would help you remember good memories instead of all the bad ones."

This was exactly what Keith was thinking as he continued to examine the camera. With it, he could preserve memories that he _wanted_ to make, not ones that were forced upon him.

Eventually, he set the camera aside and then looked around at those around him.

"Thank you," he said softly, as he willed himself not to cry. "Thank you all…for everything."

"No, Keith," Markus said softly. "Thank _you_."

* * *

A month later, Keith found himself standing on a scaffold as he hammered nails into a wall of house. The house was part of the Color Yellow's building project and Keith was more than happy to help his fellow former inmates in gaining a permanent home. It was hard work made even more so by the summer sun but at least it, unlike the "work" he had done in the compound be appreciated in the end.

"Hey, Keith!" he heard Markus call from below him when he paused in his hammering. "Natalie's here!"

At the sound of her name, Keith looked down to see Markus standing below him on the ground. "She is?" he called back.

"Yup!"

Tossing his hammer onto the empty scaffold beside him, Keith climbed down faster than he had thought was possible. His feet had barely touched the ground before he took off running in the direction that Markus had pointed.

She was sitting on one of the benches near the bus stop at the beginning of town. She had just glanced up at the sound of his running feet when he snatched her off of the bench and pulled her a hug.

"Well, hello to you too, Keith," Natalie murmured as her mouth was pressed into his shoulder.

"You have no idea how much I missed you," said Keith as he released her but kept his hands firmly on her shoulders.

"Oh, I think I do," said Natalie, smiling. "I'm sure I've missed you just as much."

Taking her one of her hands in his, Keith led her back into town. Once there, he gave her tour of the project so far and pointed out specific houses that were being constructed. As they made their way down the main street, a few people both friends of Keith and townspeople called out to them and they waved in greeting.

"Where's Billy living?" Natalie asked when he had paused in his tour.

"He's gonna live in town with Al, another friend of mine," he told her.

"I see…and where are _you_ gonna live, Keith?"

Keith hesitated. He knew what he wanted to say to her question, he just wasn't sure _how_ to say or if she would even agree.

"Well," he began nervously. "Toby offered to let me live with him and his parents but I was hoping that um, I could um, with you and your family."

"Are you serious?" Natalie asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, but if you don't want—"

"Keith, are you _kidding_ me?" She cried happily as she threw her arms around his neck. "_Of course_ you can stay with me and my family! I wouldn't have wanted you to live anywhere else!"

"You're sure?"

"Definitely. Besides, if you didn't live with me, I'd just be over at Toby's or wherever you were living all the time," she added jokingly.

He smiled at that and then kissed her forehead before he whispered. "In that case, I have something to show you."

* * *

"Keith, what the _hell_ are we doing here?"

They were standing in the main square of the compound and save for the two of them, it was absolutely empty. The sound was the wind that whistled occasionally throughout the deserted buildings which in the glare of the bright sun, looked even more run down than Keith had remembered. Although when he looked closer, he realized that several (and presumably more heavily damaged) buildings had been razed which he was glad for.

"Trust me, Natalie," he said, "you're going to love what I have planned.

"I'll believe it when I see it," she muttered in reply.

Keith laughed quietly at this and then began leading her down a street.

As they walked, they saw many large gaps between buildings that were full of splintered wood, an obvious sign that the building had been razed.

"Do you know what they're doing here?" Natalie asked eventually as they paused to rest at yet another large gap where a building had previously stood.

"They're takin' down a lot of the old apartments," he explained.

" 'Cause, I mean they were bad to begin with so it's good that they're takin' some of them down. But Toby's dad told me that they're gonna restore more of the important ones—like my building—and HQ so people can come and learn about what happened."

"You mean, they're going to let people_ tour _it?"

"Yup. Why you don't like that idea?"

"No, I think they should burn it or…or something. I dunno, it's just so…"

"Unthinkable," Keith filled in. "I know, partner but that's why it's a good thing. Because people can come and learn about what happened, see what they allowed to happen when fear and ignorance got the better of them," he finished softly.

"I get what you're saying, Keith," said Natalie. "It's just…this place feels so weird now. Ya know?"

"Yeah, definitely," he agreed. "It feels like…a ghost town. Like everything that happened…it all seems so long ago." She felt him take his hand then and Keith instantly brought hers to his lips and kissed it before he continued walking down the street.

Eventually, he stopped in front of a building that had once been a café. Like many of the buildings in the compound, this one had never been used for anything and so was left to deteriorate with time. It was because its abandonment, Keith knew that its secret had been so well kept.

Once inside, he placed Natalie in the center of the large room which was now devoid of tables and then moved off to rummage with the pile of junk that had accumulated there. After moving several items around and causing a few dust avalanches, he finally found it.

A record player.

Quickly, he heaved it into his arms and then set it down out in the open. After he cranked it and blew the dust off of the single record in the box that the player was stored in, he set the needle to the song he wanted.

After some soft crackling, a spirited jazz tune began to play and Keith turned the volume up before he stood and turned to face Natalie.

"Keith," She giggled as he held out his hand to her. "What are you doing?"

"Well, I was hoping you would dance with me," he replied.

She stared. "Do you even know_ how_ to dance?"

"Nope. Do you?"

"No."

"We'll just make it up, then," said Keith as she accepted his hand. He pulled her to him and placed his hand on the small of her back. When Natalie had placed her other hand on his shoulder, Keith instantly flung her around the room in time to the music. Soon, their "dance" became less of a dance and more of them jumping wildly about. As they whirled faster and faster, Natalie began to laugh and nearly fell into him several times.

And Keith caught her each time.

When the song stopped, he collapsed to the floor in exhaustion and laughter with Natalie right behind him.

"Keith," Natalie gasped.

"Yeah?"

"That—that was…wonderful."

"C—Couldn't really...call it…dancing," he said as he struggled to catch his breath.

"So what? It was your…your idea and I loved it."

"Good," said Keith as he sat up. " 'Cause I figured this place could have somethin' happy in it for once."

After that, they both rose to their feet and Keith repacked the record player. But instead of stowing it back where he had found it, he decided to take it with him as a sort of memento of the compound. Not of the bad things that he had experienced there but for the simple fact, that had he not been in the compound, he never would have met Natalie.

* * *

A few minutes later, as they walked back through the compound, Natalie asked, "Keith?"

"Hmm?"

"What do you think is gonna happen now?"

"With what?"

"With…us."

At her words, Keith stopped, turned to her and cupped her face in his hands. He gently brushed his lips along her cheek before he pulled back to gaze into her eyes and said, "What's gonna happen is that I'm never gonna leave you or give you a reason to worry about me ever again. The sky's the limit for us, partner."

Then, as a smile blossomed on Natalie's lips, Keith slid his arm around her shoulders and they continued walking out of the compound.

As he exited the main gates (with his arm still around Natalie) Keith glanced up.

It had all finally ended and the sky was robin's egg blue.

As he stared up at the iridescent blue, Keith realized that the sky wasn't the limit for him and Natalie.

For them, it was _limitless_.

**Author's Note: Ah! It's over, I can't believe it! I remember when I first got the idea for this fic and was so excited about it and now it's over! Ah! **

**Despite the sadness of this story with what it was influenced by, I hope you all still enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. I wasn't sure how people would react to my placing Keith and Natalie in a situation that was based on such a tragic period in history. I want to personally thank acciodanrad9, Ash Riley, JmacKarla and KeithandNatalieforever for reviewing, for being so eager to read more and encouraging me to continue. You guys rock! **

**So I guess all I can say (or type) is I hope you liked it and please review!**

**PS. Would anyone like to read deleted scenes? If so, I will be adding them on to this story, instead of creating an entirely new 'fic' for them. Let me know and thank you all, again!**


	24. Deleted Scenes 1 & 2

**Author's Note: Hello, all! Well, here are two of the deleted scenes that I promised for The Color Yellow. There will only be four in total. I've decided to give you to at once since they will all be relatively short and I didn't see the point creating a chapter area just for a scene. Read if you want and review if you want, it doesn't matter to me. I just know acciodanrad9 has been VERY patient waiting for these so I figured I'd better upload them.**

**This first scene is actually from the POV of Markus, Keith's friend and takes place the morning after Keith is taken to the Andersons' to work. I decided not to include this cuz it would've seemed weird to start a chapter in one POV and then suddenly flip to another's later on. But I hope you enjoy it and review if you want!**

Deleted Scene 1

"Wow, I got here before Keith for once," Markus remarked as he entered the bar where Andy lived.

"There's a first time for everything," said Andy from where he stood at the pool table, setting up.

Markus walked over to where the cue sticks were leaning against a wall. As he selected one, he asked as casually as he could. "So, how've you been, Andy?"

"What do you mean?" He replied.

"Well, I remember right, you tried to hang yourself a few weeks ago," said Markus as he turned to face him, cue stick in hand.

"Oh. That. Yeah, I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Yes," Andy insisted. "Really, I am. I'm leaving this building, if that's what you're thinking."

"I didn't say anything about leaving," said Markus. Although he privately felt that Andy's living alone was not good for his mental state but he knew he could never convince him to move to another building, no matter the situation.

They practiced shooting balls for a while after that as they waited for Keith to arrive. Until Andy said, "Where the heck is Keith? He's never this late."

"No idea."

"You don't think he was taken to the Lab, do you?" Andy asked, sounding worried.

Markus shook his head. "No, we'd know if they were sending people to the Lab. Besides, he wasn't sick enough."

"True."

While he was confident in his friend's health (or as healthy as one could be under the circumstances) Markus still wondered about Keith's abrupt disappearance. Where could he have gone? Had he been planning some elaborate escape plan that he wanted to keep absolutely secret until the moment when he finally did escape? Had he fled with the radio? Or…

"Hey, Andy," said Markus at his realization. "What if the guards found out about the radio? What if they captured Keith?" He looked over at Andy as he spoke and saw that whatever color remained in his face instantly drained from it.

"Shit, Mark," he swore. "That'd sure be a good reason for why he isn't here."

"I know. It's the only logical thing I could think of."

"Maybe he got really sick?" Andy suggested.

"Maybe," said Markus, although Keith hadn't looked that sick the last time he had seen him.

They practiced shooting the pool balls and even played a game until it was time for Markus to go to work. After a short (and cramped) truck ride to the compound's factories, Markus stood in line with the other inmates as three soldiers moved through the lines, counting everyone and assigning jobs. When one of the soldiers reached him, Markus blurted out. "Please, sir, do you know where Keith Zetterstrom is? He's a friend of mine and—"

"Keith Zetterstrom has been given a work position in the Commander's house," the solider snapped before he gave him his job for the day. But Markus hardly heard him. Not only was he surprised that the solider had given him an actual answer instead of just telling him to shut up but the fact Keith was working in such a place as the Commander's own house. Why had he been picked out of all of the inmates? Had he somehow found out about the radio? Or was it some sort of punishment for thinking of escape plans?

These questions whirled around Markus' head for the entire time he was at work. Although he was happy that his friend had managed to escape the compound in a sense, he could only imagine what it was like at the Commander's house. He would have to ask him what it was like when he returned.

That was, if he ever did return.

* * *

**Author's Note: This next scene is what I call the "beat down" scene. Horrible, but true. This is basically what takes place after Keith drops the bottle of wine at dinner and Raff drags him out. I was going to include this in the actually story but eventually decided that the element of surprise would be better. Hope you like it despite the violence of it. **

Deleted Scene 2

The shock of his sudden exit from the dining room wore off quickly and Keith struggled to gain his footing as Raff dragged out of the Andersons' house. He had grabbed him so quickly that he had almost knocked Keith over. Now, Raff hauled him out of the house as if he were nothing more than a trash bag, occasionally yanking on his shirt if he seemed to slow them up with his stumbling.

Finally, they reached the backyard whereupon Raff carelessly tossed him against the back of the house. Immediately, dirt filled his mouth and he quickly spat it out as Raff said from above him. "I've been meaning to talk to someone like you."

At his words, Keith rolled over and looked up at him incredulously. "What? Why?"

"Because," answered Raff, his voice strangely calm, "I wanted to ask what you think of it all."

"Of…of living in the compound?" Keith asked, wondering where the conversation was going. He had the horrible feeling that whatever Raff was getting at, it wasn't going to be good for him.

"Yes."

"Well, I think—" And then his breath was knocked out of him as Raff kicked him squarely in the ribs. Keith gasped and clutched his chest, rolling over onto his side from the sudden, intense pain.

"You fucking idiot!" Raff shouted as Keith squeezed his eyes shut in agony. "You're not supposed to think! You're supposed to follow the rules, you're supposed suffer." Here he grabbed Keith by his shirt and pulled him to his feet. "You're supposed to know that you're _worthless_," Raff hissed into his ear. "The only thought you need to have is that you are _nothing_."

With that, he dropped Keith back onto the ground and continued, "What the hell happened at dinner tonight, huh? Were you_ trying_ to embarrass me in front of the Commander?"

"N-No, no, I-I swear," Keith stammered nervously which caused Raff, without warning to clock him in the nose. Yowling in pain, Keith grabbed his throbbing nose which he could feel was beginning to bleed.

"Shut up!" Raff ordered. "Do you want them to hear you?"

Keith didn't answer as he was trying to stem the steady flow of blood from his nose. But apparently Raff wanted him to as he yanked one of his hands away from his nose and snarled. "I asked you a question!"

"No…no, I don't want them t-to hear me," Keith mumbled.

"No, you don't because that would make the Commander very upset with both of us," said Raff. He let go of Keith's arm, straightened up and then began telling him how his beating had been his "lesson" to never him embarrass him or the Commander in front of his family like he had. Keith barely paid attention to what he was saying as half of it was what he had been hearing for nearly a year; how "worthless" and "good for nothing" he was. Instead he focused on thoughts of whether his nose was broken and more importantly, Natalie.

As he thought of her, he was even more surprised when Raff mentioned her by name and perked up instantly.

"I know Natalie saved that last time when you were accused of stealing her ribbon," Raff was saying. "And I still think you're guilty for that. But I hope you realize that she won't always be there to save you. Eventually, the Commander will get sick of you and he'll send you back to the compound where you'll get sent to the Lab. I don't know when that will happen but with all the shit you've caused at Lodlin, I'm surprised they've kept you around. I would've sent you off a long time ago."

At his chilling words, Keith slowly lowered his hand from his face. Wincing at his aching torso, he raised himself up as high as he could and then looked up at the young lieutenant. Even though Keith knew he was the same age as him, he didn't see a peer looking back at him. He saw a boy who had grown up too fast, who truly believed that he was important and doing a good thing. Even though Keith had just been beaten by him, all he could feel for Raff was not hatred as he would've expected, but an immense feeling of pity. Pity, because he was so blinded to what he was really doing and the truth of what he had been told to believe.

Pity. That was the only thing Keith showed on his face as he stared up at Raff…that and the pain of his injuries that Raff had inflicted upon him.

The two of them stared at each other for what seemed like an hour. Raff's face remained impassive as he stared back at Keith until eventually it hardened and his eyes narrowed in anger. Then, he leaned down and delivered a final punch to Keith, this time in the eye. The blow caused Keith to fall back onto the ground in pain but he didn't cry out as Raff turned and left him lying in the dirt without another word.

When he was sure he was gone, Keith let out a heavy sigh of relief, instantly wincing at the pain in his torso. He didn't even want to think about getting up as the full force of his beating overcame him. So he lay helplessly in the dirt, not knowing or caring about what would happen next. Just that he had wounded the pride of a lieutenant was enough and he smiled at the thought.

**Author's Note: Well, there you go. Hope you liked them and once again, I'm sorry for the long wait. I should have the next (and last) two up by next weekend!**


	25. Deleted Scenes 3 & 4

**Author's Note: Once again, I apologize for the delay in this. I had midterms last week and have had non-stop papers. It's getting a bit ridiculous. Anyway, here are the final two deleted scenes of **_**The Color Yellow**_**. The first one is one of my favorite scenes from TBITSP. You'll recognize it once you start reading, so hope you enjoy and please review!**

Deleted Scene 3

Keith might have been living in her backyard, but Natalie only caught glimpses of him as the days went on. And it seemed that whenever she did, she was always within hearing range of one of her family members which made talking to him out of the question.

After another of these distant encounters, she walked into the kitchen, looking for something to occupy herself and not think (and subsequently worry) about Keith when she found that someone was already in the kitchen.

It was a boy about her sister's age and he was standing at the center island, polishing several sets of drinking glasses that covered the entire island. He had black hair and was wearing a gray shirt, pants and an orange armband. Just like Keith did.

No doubt hearing her approach, the boy jumped a little and straightened up, only to stare at her in complete surprise. Both were s o surprised at the other's appearance that the only thing Natalie could manage to say to break the silence was. "Hi."

"Hello," the boy replied albeit timidly.

Sensing his worry, Natalie asked gently. "What's your name?"

"B-Billy."

"Do you know Keith?"

At the name, Billy's face brightened. "Yeah, he's my best friend. We live—" He stopped abruptly and looked down at the glass he was, ashamed. "I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I'm not supposed to talk about where I live."

"It's okay, I already know," said Natalie. At her words, Billy raised his head and she quickly told him how she had met Keith and knew about the compound. When she finished, Billy stared at her with eyes as big as quarters. "Are you gonna help us?" He asked hopefully.

"Yes," said Natalie, laying a hand on his shoulder. "I don't know how exactly yet. But I do know that there's a group on the outside that knows about the compounds like I do and they're trying spread the word."

"_Really_?" Billy gasped in awe.

"Yup. So, don't worry. You're not gonna be in that place forever." Then, she gave him a smile as his face broke into a happy one of his own, before she moved over to the fridge and began making herself a sandwich with some leftover lunchmeat and cheese. Remembering how hungry Keith had been whenever she had met him at the fence, she cut her sandwich in half and turning back to Billy, said. "Would you like half of my sandwich? You need it more than I do."

"Yes, please," said Billy, taking it gratefully. He had only eaten a few bites, when Natalie's father entered the kitchen, commenting how he had been wondering where she was when he suddenly caught sight of Billy.

"What are you doing talking to my daughter?" Pete demanded. "Didn't I make myself clear that—" He stopped when he saw that Billy was holding half of Natalie's sandwich and his face hardened in anger.

"Have you stealing food?" He asked in a dangerously low voice.

"N-No, s-sir," Billy stammered. He pointed at Natalie and added, nervously. "She—She gave it to me."

At his words, Pete's eyes snapped up to glare at Natalie. "Is this true?" He asked her.

"Well, I've never seen him before but I did give him the sandwich," she said, figuring it was better for the both her and Billy if she just told him the truth. "I mean, he looked a little underfed and besides, I wasn't all that hungry." She ended as casually as she could.

Pete pressed his lips together in thought before he turned back to Billy and said seriously. "Finish cleaning the glasses and then you and I are going to have a little talk about what is considered acceptable behavior within my household." As Billy nodded vigorously, Peter looked back at his daughter and said. "I would appreciate it if, in the future that you don't talk to those in my employment. I don't want them losing sight of their place." Natalie hoped that her face showed a look of confusion at his words but her father didn't pay attention as he left the room.

Figuring that it would be best not to raise any more suspicion, she gave Billy an encouraging smile before she left him to his work.

**Author's Note: I deleated this scene because I thought it was pretty pointless and I'm sure you all would've been confused as to why Billy and Keith could work at the Andersons' and not other people at the compound. Plus, I wanted to keep the focus on Keith's experiences there. Review if you want!**

**

* * *

****Author's Note: This next and final scene was my original idea for the climax in the compound where Keith is shot. At first, I was going to write this story where the POVs would switch between Natalie and Keith within the chapters. Ultimately I decided that this would be way too confusing for both me and you, the readers so that's where I came up with doing each chapter in alternating POVs, plus I could tell a lot more that way. Enjoy!**

Deleted Scene 4

As soon as Natalie saw the yellow ribbon tied to the fence, she immediately lunged for the area that had torn away from the post. She had just grabbed hold of the wire when a pair of arms wrapped her and yanked her away from the fence.

"Natalie, what the hell do you think you're doing?" Zach cried from above her.

"I have to get in there, Zach!" She yelled back. "He left that ribbon because something bad is going to happen to him."

"You don't know that," said Zach gently.

"Yes, I do," she said firmly. "It's my ribbon. Why else would he leave it?"

"I don't know," Zach replied, "but Natalie, we can't just barge in there. There's gotta tons of guards with guns in that place."

Even though she knew this was probably true, her concern for Keith was greater. "But once Dad sees us, he won't let them hurt us. We're his kids!" She protested.

"Yeah…but since he lied to us about his job, maybe we're not all that important to him as much as we thought we were," said Zach softly.

Natalie instantly dismissed this thought even though part of it was true. Instead, she said firmly. "I'm going in. You can come if you want, Zach. It's your choice."

With that, she got down on the ground and wormed her way carefully through the hole and to the other side.

* * *

Keith stared out at the crowd of faces that filled his vision. He hoped that his face was effectively masking the fear that he felt. All of these people, those he cared for and those who didn't know him at all except as the boy who had a radio, were going to watch him be executed. No, _murdered_. In cold blood.

A trickle of fear ran through him at this thought but he continued to stare impassively ahead as Natalie's father stepped forward and shouted out into the crowd. "You all know this boy! He told you he had a radio! He told you that you should resist our authority! He told you that you could be cured and set free! He will now tell that it was all a lie!" With that, he stepped back and looked expectantly at Keith, who in turn looked out at the crowd full of his friends, people who had shared in his pain and suffering and who had believed in him, who felt that they owed their lives to him because he had brought them hope. As he stared, he tried to find Markus and Andy and everyone else but there were too many and he was too far away.

The silence seemed to drag on for several minutes as everyone waited for Keith to speak. "Tell them!" A solider demanded, his sharp voice cracking the stillness.

Keith said nothing and continued to stare straight ahead.

"Tell them!" A different one ordered, seconds later.

Still, Keith said nothing.

"Tell them, boy, _tell them_!" growled Mr. Anderson threateningly.

At this, Keith turned his head to find him standing a few feet away from him, holding his pistol against his chest so Keith could clearly see it. Upon seeing it, Keith opened his mouth to speak, but it was not his voice that spoke next. Because it was a voice that made everyone turn and stare at its shout.

"DAD! STOP!"

It was Natalie's voice.

* * *

The moment she stood up on the other side of the fence, something in her told where she needed to go. And so, before Zach had even gotten halfway through the fence, she had sprinted off through the streets of the compound. She ignored the depressing sights of the crumbling buildings and immense squalor of the place. She was only focused on Keith.

As such, when she came upon the crowd of people all dressed in the same gray clothes, she knew what had happened. Or was going to happen if she didn't try to stop it. She only needed to glance up and see Keith standing next to her father and she knew what she had to do.

"DAD!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. "STOP!"

Ignoring the stares of the hundreds of people around her, Natalie fought her way through the crowd and onto the platform where she threw herself at Keith. The force of her lunge knocked him flat onto the platform with her landing on top of him.

"Natalie!" She heard her father order above her. "What the hell are you doing here? Get off of him!"

"No!" She yelled back. "You'll just kill him if I do. And if you kill him, you'll have to kill me too." She cried desperately.

"Don't be ridiculous," said her dad and Keith in unison, although Keith spoke much more gently than Pete. At Keith's words, Natalie looked down at him.

"I don't want you to get hurt because of me," he continued. "That's the last thing I'd want to happen."

Natalie smiled and kissed his forehead before she got off of him but still kept herself in front of him so she was between him and her dad. To whom, she said firmly. "You're not going to hurt him or anyone else here again, Dad. I know what this place is and what your job is. Both Zach and I have known for a while."

"What? How could you—?" Pete began to ask but was interrupted by the roar of several large vehicles approaching.

It was Toby, Natalie knew instantly. He and the rest of his resistance group had found Keith's compound and had come to free all those that had been unlawfully imprisoned there.

She turned to Keith then and saw the biggest of smiles plastered across his face; it was so big that it even reached his eyes.

"It's all over, Keith," she said, stepping closer to him. He instantly wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close to him.

"Yes, Natalie," he whispered back. "It's finally over."

**Author's Note: I ultimately deleted this scene altogether not 'cause of the POV change but because it seemed too "Pochohantas-ish" for me and I figured it would be much more dramatic if you all thought that Pete had actually killed Keith. **

**And so, **_**The Color Yellow**_** is officially completed. I want to thank everyone again who reviewed/favorited this story because I know it was sad and dramatic at some points but at least it had a happy ending. But I have many more Keith fics, in mind both lighthearted and not. So, thank you all for sticking with this story and please review!**


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